holiday - vacation

◊ 'holiday'

In British English, you refer to a period of time which you are allowed to spend away from work or school as the holiday or the holidays.

The school had undergone repairs during the holiday.

One day after the Christmas holidays I rang her up.

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You refer to a period of time spent away from home enjoying yourself as a holiday.

He thought that Vita needed a holiday.

I went to Marrakesh for a holiday.

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When you spend a long period of time like this each year, you refer to it as your holidays.

Where are you going for your holidays?

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Note that you usually use a determiner or a possessive in front of holiday or holidays. You do not say, for example, `I went to Marrakesh for holidays'.

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If you are on holiday, you are spending a period of time away from work or school, or you are spending some time away from home enjoying yourself.

Remember to turn off the gas when you go on holiday.

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In American English, a holiday is a single day when people do not work, often to commemorate an important event.

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In British English, a day like this is called a bank holiday.

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◊ 'vacation'

The usual American word for a longer period of time spent away from work or school, or for a period of time spent away from home enjoying yourself, is vacation.

Harold used to take a vacation at that time.

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At a British university or college, the vacation is one of the periods of several weeks when the university or college is officially closed for teaching.

I've a lot of reading to do over the vacation.

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◊ 'vac'

In conversation, British students often refer to one of these periods as the vac.

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