ab·sence ( b s ns)n. 1. The state of being away. 2. The time during which one is away. 3. Lack; want: an absence of leadership. 4. The state of being absent-minded; inattentiveness: absence of mind. |
absence [ˈæbsəns]
Absence
eighty-six Nothing left, no more, no, nix; from American restaurant argot for being sold out of a certain dish. The term was apparently chosen because it rhymes with nix, slang for nothing or no. Although this expression is still most commonly heard among restaurant workers, it has recently gained popularity in general slang.
missing link The absent or unknown integral step in a progression; the lacking, unifying component of a series. This expression probably originated as an allusion to a chain that is minus a vital part. The phrase is most often applied to the unknown connection in the anthropological progression of man’s theoretical evolution from the lower primates.
Albertus [Magnus] made the first attempt to bridge the gap between man and the rest of the animal world by means of a kind of “missing link” in the shape of the pygmy and the ape. (R. and D. Morris, Men and Apes, 1966)
neither hide nor hair Nothing at all, not a trace. Hide here of course means ‘skin.’ The expression in hide and hair, in the language since the 14th century but now rarely heard, has an opposite meaning—‘wholly, entirely.’ The oldest citation for neither hide nor hair shows that more than a century ago it was used much the same as it most frequently is today: in a negative construction following see. However, contemporary usage usually limits its application to humans or animals—literal possessors of hide and hair.
I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the piece ever since. (Josiah G. Holland, The Bay-path, 1857)
scarce as hen’s teeth Very scarce, nonexistent; rarely occurring. This Americanism dating from the mid-1800s is a superlative of ‘scarce,’ since a hen has no teeth.
North of Mason and Dixon’s line, colored county officials are scarce as hen’s teeth. (Congressional Record, October 2, 1893)
This expression and the variant rare as hen’s teeth are still in use.
Stoppages are as rare as hen’s teeth. (Times, June 12, 1969)
sweet Fanny Adams Nothing; usually used in reference to the failure of a potentially promising enterprise or occasion. Fanny Adams was a woman who was brutally murdered in 1810. Her hacked and mutilated body was thrown into a river. Because of the gruesomeness of the crime and the dour humor of the British Navy, Fanny Adams became the nickname for canned mutton served to the sailors. The implication is clear. Over the years, Fanny Adams became sweet Fanny Adams, or Sweet F. A., with the abbreviated form serving as a popular euphemism for an obvious obscenity.
| Noun | 1. |  absence - the state of being absent; "he was surprised by the absence of any explanation"nonoccurrence - absence by virtue of not occurring awayness - the state of being elsewhere than in particular place deficiency, lack, want - the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable; "there is a serious lack of insight into the problem"; "water is the critical deficiency in desert regions"; "for want of a nail the shoe was lost" presence - the state of being present; current existence; "he tested for the presence of radon" |
| 2. |  absence - failure to be present cut - an unexcused absence from class; "he was punished for taking too many cuts in his math class" default - loss due to not showing up; "he lost the game by default" nonattendance - the failure to attend absenteeism - habitual absence from work presence - the act of being present | |
| 3. | absence - the time interval during which something or somebody is away; "he visited during my absence" interval, time interval - a definite length of time marked off by two instants | |
| 4. |  absence - the occurrence of an abrupt, transient loss or impairment of consciousness (which is not subsequently remembered), sometimes with light twitching, fluttering eyelids, etc.; common in petit mal epilepsyictus, raptus, seizure - a sudden occurrence (or recurrence) of a disease; "he suffered an epileptic seizure" epilepsia minor, petit mal, petit mal epilepsy - epilepsy characterized by paroxysmal attacks of brief clouding of consciousness (and possibly other abnormalities); "she has been suffering from petit mal since childhood" complex absence - an absence seizure accompanied by other abnormalities (atonia or automatisms or vasomotor changes) pure absence, simple absence - an absence seizure without other complications; followed by 3-per-sec brainwave spikes subclinical absence - a transient impairment of cortical function demonstrable only by 3-per-second brainwave spikes |
absence
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder,"
"Isle of Beauty, Fare thee well!" [Thomas Haynes Bayly Isle of Beauty]
"Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great" [Comte de Bussy-Rabutin Histoire amoureuse des Gaules]
"Among the defects of the Bill, which were numerous, one provision was conspicuous by its presence and another by its absence" [Lord John Russell Speech to his constituents, 1859]
in the absence of [+ person] → en ausencia de; [+ thing] → a falta de
after an absence of three months → tras una ausencia de tres meses
to be sentenced in one's absence → ser condenado en ausencia
absence of mind → distracción f, despiste m
absence makes the heart grow fonder → la ausencia es al amor lo que el viento al aire, que apaga el pequeño y aviva el grande
in sb's absence → en l'absence de qn
in the absence of sth → faute de qch
absence makes the heart grow fonder → l'absence renforce les liens
in the absence of (person) → in assenza di (thing) → in mancanza di
in my absence → in mia assenza
in the absence of any evidence → non essendoci prove
absence of mind → distrazione f
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