gap year

[ gap yeer ]

noun

1. a period of time, usually an academic or calendar year, in which a student takes a break from school to travel, work, or volunteer, typically after ending high school and before starting college.

gap year

noun

1. a year's break taken by a student between leaving school and starting further education

Word History and Origins

Origin of gap year¹

First recorded in 1975–80; gap ( def ) + year ( def )

Example Sentences

Enter the grown-up gap year, a midlife version of the time some students take off before attending college.

From Washington Post

In 2019—at the age of 50—I embarked on a midlife gap year of my own.

From Fortune

“[Our fans are] mostly gap-year public-school girls,” said the band's multi-instrumentalist Ben Lovett.

From The Daily Beast