absenceab‧sence /ˈæbsəns/ ●●● S3 W2 noun 
Ms Leighton will be in charge during my absence (=while I am away).absence from Her work involved repeated absences from home.2[singular] the lack of something or the fact that it does not exist OPP presenceabsence of a complete absence of any kind of planning In the absence of any evidence, the police had to let Myers go.3absence makes the heart grow fonder used to say that being away from someone makes you like them more → leave of absence at leave2(3), → conspicuous by your absence at conspicuous(3)COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa long absence· She was apprehensive about studying again after such a long absence.a prolonged absence (=continuing for a long time)· Requests for prolonged absence during term time are strongly discouraged.a lengthy absence· The injury may mean a lengthy absence from the team.a brief absence· Everything seemed to have changed during his brief absence.frequent absences (=happening often)· She disliked Stephen's frequent absences on business.repeated absences (=happening again and again)· Repeated absences from school can lead to children falling behind.a temporary absence· No one noticed her temporary absence.a sudden absence· It wasn't easy to deal with Hugh's sudden absence.an unexplained absence· Did he give a reason for his unexplained absence?unauthorized absence (=that you do not have permission for)· With the older pupils, unauthorized absence increased.phrasessomebody's absence from work/school· You will be entitled to sick pay in respect of any absence from work through sickness.a period of absence· You must submit a doctor's statement to cover the period of absence beyond the seventh day.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Malone's absences have made it difficult on the rest of the team.
- The Russian flag was waving again after an absence of 74 years.
- In the absence of pressing problems he improvises his activities, working the case he wants to work.
- Poverty and the absence of hope are real causes for anti-social behaviour.
- Still, the hows and whys of their absences are less important than the absences themselves.
- The absence of mathematics eliminates any advance treatment, but it could serve as an introduction text and as a source document.
- The model developed in the paper also pinpoints the conditions required for union existence in the absence of coercion.
- The superstitious 35-year-old singer and impressionist was remanded on bail in his absence charged with affray.
- There were 103 cases of caretaker absence or incapacity, she said.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives an article bemoaning the lack of sports facilities in the area a period of enforced isolation Steiner lamented the lack of public interest in the issue.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· She was apprehensive about studying again after such a long absence.
(=continuing for a long time)· Requests for prolonged absence during term time are strongly discouraged.
· The injury may mean a lengthy absence from the team.
· Everything seemed to have changed during his brief absence.
(=happening often)· She disliked Stephen's frequent absences on business.
(=happening again and again)· Repeated absences from school can lead to children falling behind.
· No one noticed her temporary absence.
· It wasn't easy to deal with Hugh's sudden absence.
· Did he give a reason for his unexplained absence?
(=that you do not have permission for)· With the older pupils, unauthorized absence increased.
phrases· You will be entitled to sick pay in respect of any absence from work through sickness.
· You must submit a doctor's statement to cover the period of absence beyond the seventh day.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES an article bemoaning the lack of sports facilities in the area a period of enforced isolation Steiner lamented the lack of public interest in the issue.· I have complete absence of remorse in this saturation of pleasure.· One was the complete absence of physical evidence.· The complete absence from her novels of condescension is the secret of her popularity.· I have assumed a complete absence of proofreading.· These difficulties were exacerbated by the almost complete absence of indigenous, vertically-integrated companies.· Clostridium bacteria can grow only in the complete absence of oxygen, so they have been found in contaminated cans of food.· Often it means a complete absence of thought, theory or conscious plan.
· One name conspicuous by its absence was that of Nigel Kneale, whom Whitaker contacted very early on.· Her son, Herschel, who lived in rural Michigan, was conspicuous in his absence.· In fact, they are conspicuous by their absence.· His distinguishing trait is an unwavering moral compass, conspicuous by its absence in college basketball.· And finally, these statements are characterised by a conspicuous absence of facts to bolster such assertions.· Calculations of the social marginal costs and benefits of cutting back pollution tend to be conspicuous by their absence.· If I have any qualification, it is that contemporary work is conspicuous by its absence.
· But even should he reappear tomorrow looking hale and hearty, his long absence will have cast a shadow over his position.· Sharpe discovered that before his long absences through injury and illness.· Hilary was depressed at your long absence.· Was there any reason for this long absence?· Grade differences in long absences were reduced by 11% for men and by 36% for women after adjustment.· The trends in long absences across the grades, however, were reduced by only 5% for men and 15% for women.· Movingly, he finds his father, and the reason for his long absence.· She heard his low voice as he spoke to them, greeted them after his long absence.
· Furthermore, there appears to be a total absence of dentine, which is unexpected if conodonts are vertebrates.· Jesse Jackson descended upon Hollywood to protest the almost total absence of black and minority nominees.· The survey is perhaps also significant for the total absence of any importance being placed on welfare law work.· An aspect of this story was the total absence of the Doctor from Episodes Three and Four.· What has been striking over the past few weeks is the almost total absence of diplomacy.· In the total absence of black dancers, Covent Garden lags behind other ballet companies in the West.· In the almost total absence of information there can be no interest in systematizing procedures in the manner of the Victoria Centre.· Note particularly the total absence of adverbs.
NOUN· These risk factors accounted for about one third of the grade differences in sickness absence.· The grade differences in sickness absence were present in all age groups.· Conclusion - Large grade differences in sickness absence parallel socioeconomic differences in morbidity and mortality found in other studies.· It was possible to examine sickness absence within an organisation with a single sickness absence policy.· Participants who smoked also had higher rates of short and long spells of sickness absence compared with non-smokers.· The relation between alcohol consumption and sickness absence will be reported elsewhere.· One estimate puts the cost in terms of sickness absence alone at over £700 million a year.· For women, there was no clear relation between alcohol consumption and sickness absence.
VERB· I can most clearly explain it in terms of the absences of thinking and doing.· It fails to explain the absence of comparable patterns among single and divorced women.· She had not even phoned them that morning to explain her absence.· It explained the absence of city water and telephone service in the cigarette subdivision: The developer had foolishly overspent on bribes.· This may explain the absence of methane in the breath of 40-50% of western populations.· Furthermore, there was no affidavit explaining their absence.· How does she explain Dad's absence to the children?· And it explains your absences from the council quite nicely.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[countable, uncountable] when you are not in the place where people expect you to be, or the time that you are awayin/during somebody’s absence- If I have any qualification, it is that contemporary work is conspicuous by its absence.
- Arienne is taking a leave of absence to do a Master's degree.
- As the Gay situation unraveled, reserve guard Charlie Taylor was granted an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons.
- I could take a leave of absence from graduate study for one year and still have my fellowship held for me.
- I would have been pleased had Peter been somewhat hesitant to grant me a one-week leave of absence.
- In 1624 he obtained leave of absence from the University and served as a Member of Parliament.
- Morales said his leave of absence from the district runs out May 23.
- Patrick Brady, 28, took a leave of absence from Gov.
- They say she was not fired, but failed to return after a leave of absence.
- Whether this entitles the House to exclude a peer on leave of absence has not been tested.
Ms Leighton will be in charge during my absence (=while I am away).absence from Her work involved repeated absences from home.2[singular] the lack of something or the fact that it does not exist OPP presenceabsence of a complete absence of any kind of planning In the absence of any evidence, the police had to let Myers go.3absence makes the heart grow fonder used to say that being away from someone makes you like them more → leave of absence at leave2(3), → conspicuous by your absence at conspicuous(3)COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa long absence· She was apprehensive about studying again after such a long absence.a prolonged absence (=continuing for a long time)· Requests for prolonged absence during term time are strongly discouraged.a lengthy absence· The injury may mean a lengthy absence from the team.a brief absence· Everything seemed to have changed during his brief absence.frequent absences (=happening often)· She disliked Stephen's frequent absences on business.repeated absences (=happening again and again)· Repeated absences from school can lead to children falling behind.a temporary absence· No one noticed her temporary absence.a sudden absence· It wasn't easy to deal with Hugh's sudden absence.an unexplained absence· Did he give a reason for his unexplained absence?unauthorized absence (=that you do not have permission for)· With the older pupils, unauthorized absence increased.phrasessomebody's absence from work/school· You will be entitled to sick pay in respect of any absence from work through sickness.a period of absence· You must submit a doctor's statement to cover the period of absence beyond the seventh day.