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absent

[adj., prep. ab-suhnt; v. ab-sent, ab-suhnt]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

not in a certain place at a given time; away, missing (opposed to present): absent from class.

lacking; nonexistent: Revenge is absent from his mind.

not attentive; preoccupied; absent-minded: an absent look on his face.

verb (used with object)

to take or keep (oneself) away: to absent oneself from a meeting.

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Absent is one of our favorite verbs.

So is skedaddle. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

chat, to converse

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preposition

in the absence of; without: Absent some catastrophe, stock-market prices should soon improve.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin absent- (stem of absēns, present participle of abesse to be away (ab- ab- + -s- be (see is) + -ent- -ent))

Related forms

ab·sen·ta·tion

[ab-suhn-tey-shuhn] , noun

ab·sent·er, noun

ab·sent·ness, noun

non·ab·sen·ta·tion, noun

Synonyms
1. out, off.

Antonyms
1. present.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To absent

Example Sentences

Absent menstruation means no menstrual flow, or period.

If the workplace experience is absent from students' lives, long hours are not.

For years, absent fathers have taken the blame for this, because growing up quickly has negative consequences for girls.

EXPAND

Absent menstruation means no menstrual flow, or period.

If the workplace experience is absent from students' lives, long hours are not.

For years, absent fathers have taken the blame for this, because growing up quickly has negative consequences for girls.

Interestingly, however, petals-typical of many flowering plants-are absent.

To say that the peer group is more important than parental input points to the absent parent.

Underneath they found soil that seemed absent of human contact.

May your wines be good, your legend lasting, and all alligators absent.

But the extra bulk allows for some attractive features absent in other tablets.

There was one core humanistic discipline largely absent from this unconference: my own, philosophy.

But throughout the developing world teachers on the public payroll are often absent from school.

Empidonax flycatchers have eye rings and wing bars, which are absent in the eastern phoebe.

If specific to a disease, they are likely to be found in high levels in those with the condition, yet be absent in healthy people.

Others had free access to areas controlled by absent landowners.

Barking is common in domesticated dogs, but infrequent if not downright absent in their wild counterparts.

Walt never poses the question of why realists are largely absent from newspaper opinion sections.

In the popular press, however, such dissent is almost entirely absent.

Species may be common along these sections but absent in nearby areas where habitat has been destroyed.

On the open ocean, however, flies and other insects are largely absent.

Absent that gadget you can make a circle of crumpled tin foil, put the circle on your burner, put the pot on the circle.

Fossils of early humans are rare, but those of chimpanzees have been absent from the fossil record altogether, until now.

Many faculty members purposefully absent themselves from the business end of the enterprise.

The event and the deliberations preceding it are absent.

At subsonic speed, which is below the speed of sound, shock waves are absent.

Absent that, there is no a priori way to orient yourself.

The key is finding traits that are shared in some organisms due to common ancestry but are absent in others.

The same gene that will be highly expressed in some subjects will be completely absent in others.

While the exchange was informative, empirical evidence to support multiple intelligences was largely absent.

Whole families of genes that were prominent in one line were rare or absent in the other.

Among some populations the behavior was rare or absent.

Strikingly absent from the discussion is the fact that the false positive rate can be controlled.

Absent a catastrophe of biblical proportions, you'll come up with a pretty good prediction.

Neo-fascist skinheads were notably absent from the rally.

In ten years, terns, gulls and black guillemots have declined by over half and are now totally absent from many areas.

Absent excessive bleeding uncontrollable by medical means, once menstruation begins, hysterectomy seems hard to justify.

Obviously the stress of weight-bearing is absent in space.

The power of an early good example in a life where they are scarce or altogether absent would seem to go without saying.

The scanner records when she's tardy or absent and even plays a song for her birthday.

The certainty of death was absent at the origin of life.

But an element of make-believe is never absent either.

There is always the sound of laughter, something conspicuously absent at the dump.

Absent effective control, public opposition will grow, thus putting continued production at risk.

Notably absent from his speech were any condolences for the families of those killed during the protests.

Sometimes one would squeal for his absent mother, and then the other would let loose with a high-pitched cry of lament.

It necessitates a level of long-term speculation and prognosis that is absent from other industries.

Others described absent fathers, households plagued by alcoholism, lonely teenage years and their frustrated desire to belong.

Boy fantasizes about his absent father, spinning outlandish tales about his dad's adventures to schoolmates.

Fuchs and her colleagues created a line of mice in which the gene that makes alpha-catenin was absent in the skin cells.

But despite the excitement, something is conspicuously absent.

The intent is to provide students who are absent from school with opportunities to engage in a relevant learning experience.

Although animal rights groups may disagree, absent people, the places would not be dangerous.

These are important for the growth of nerve cells and are abundant in human milk but generally absent from formulas.

She came from a family of strong women, little money, and absent men.

So, absent some spurious argument about ground water, there is no reason not to build it.

Some predictions will be neither right nor wrong but simply absent.

But until this week a key government panel that helps to regulate the accrediting agencies has been absent from the debate.

Now two recent studies show that a mere reminder of an absent beloved-a photograph-can deliver the same relief.

And you won't mourn the absent fat in these boldly.

Works of social conscience have been largely absent from the stage for, well decades.

So, basic result: the theory is correct absent the presence of determined outside interference.

Commonly reported feelings of relief or elation were absent.

But until now the flowers have been absent from the fossil record.

The more overweight a child, the more likely he or she is to be absent from school, a new report suggests.

Notably absent in the statement is any hint that any legalities are involved.

Wainwright recognized that the premise is illusory absent competent.

Absent any evident justification, such treatment is clearly forbidden by our.

Monday afternoon, and will be absent through the week.

Some decide to be absent from campus on the day of the other candidates' visits.

Even wholly absent fingerprints, however, don't eliminate all identifying marks whatsoever.

Teach to the ones who arrive, but do not complain about those who are absent.

The mutations were absent in populations that speak tonal languages, but abundant in nontonal speakers.

Novell is surprisingly absent given the importance of networking to.

Any modes of activity or facilities that would contribute to collegiality were absent.

Ethnic strife in a multi-ethnic land has been notably absent.

Areas absent of any compensation program see significantly greater lion kills by local.

The g-forces of acceleration would not be felt because the field of gravity would be absent in the direction toward the hole.

Conspicuously absent from the witness list, however, are representatives of the contractors themselves.

Regular police officers, however, are largely absent.

But electric vehicles aren't as clean as their absent tailpipes might suggest.

But absent a highway boom something would have been built and markets would have optimised to that something.

In effect, these claims offer little more than plausible explanations for psychological phenomena, absent any evidence.

It wouldn't hurt to stop the nonsense of telling everyone that their life is worthless absent a college degree.

Peer-reviewed data is golden but absent from these pages.

Not that religion has been absent from the university as an object of study.

It was striking how the issue of the mainland itself was absent.

Like normal glucose, this concentrates in regions of high energy demand and is absent in regions of low demand.

The sense of permanence, of rooted certainty, seemed absent from their lives.

Notions of corporate governance and shareholder accountability are almost entirely absent.

Although decomposers are included in food webs, they are absent in food pyramids.

Absent a devaluation, it would be hard for banks to inflict pain on their local units: abandoning foreign subsidiaries is taboo.

Everybody may grow up with a crazy dysfunctional family or an absent father.

Renewable power is fickle, available when the wind blows or the sun shines but absent when it does not.

No absent limb ever restored by prayer, yet re-attachment surgery is improving.

This, critics suggest, allowed rioters to muster in numbers where police was absent and avoid spots where it was present.

There simply is no way to know whether someone is lying or not absent solid evidence.

The predicted phenomenon is startlingly and entirely absent from the observational record".

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

absent

—*adj*
1.	away or not present
2.	lacking; missing
3.	inattentive; absent-minded

—vb
4.	(tr) to remove (oneself) or keep away

[C14: from Latin absent-, stem of absēns, present participle of abesse to be away]

ab'senter

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

absent

late 14c., from M.Fr. absent (O.Fr. ausent), from L. absentem (nom. absens), prp. of abesse (see absence).

EXPAND

absent

"to keep away" (from), c.1400, from M.Fr. absenter, from L.L. absentare "cause to be away," from L. absentem; see absent (adj.).

COLLAPSE

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