Search Result for "absence": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (4)

1. the state of being absent;
- Example: "he was surprised by the absence of any explanation"

2. failure to be present;

3. the time interval during which something or somebody is away;
- Example: "he visited during my absence"

4. 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 epilepsy;
[syn: absence, absence seizure]



The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Absence \Ab"sence\, n. [F., fr. L. absentia. See Absent.]
   1. A state of being absent or withdrawn from a place or from
      companionship; -- opposed to presence.
      [1913 Webster]

            Not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
            absence.                              --Phil. ii.
                                                  12.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Want; destitution; withdrawal. "In the absence of
      conventional law." --Kent.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Inattention to things present; abstraction (of mind); as,
      absence of mind. "Reflecting on the little absences and
      distractions of mankind." --Addison.
      [1913 Webster]

            To conquer that abstraction which is called absence.
                                                  --Landor.
      [1913 Webster]


WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

absence
    n 1: the state of being absent; "he was surprised by the absence
         of any explanation" [ant: presence]
    2: failure to be present [ant: presence]
    3: the time interval during which something or somebody is away;
       "he visited during my absence"
    4: 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 epilepsy [syn: absence, absence
       seizure]