absence

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}]
    

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 A state of being absent or withdrawn from a place or from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]
    

81 Moby Thesaurus words for "absence":
      AWOL, French leave, abscondence, absence without leave,
      absentation, absenteeism, absenting, beggary, cut, day off, dearth,
      default, defect, defectiveness, deficiency, deficit, departure,
      deprivation, destitution, disappearance, drought, emptiness,
      escape, excused absence, exigency, famine, fleeing, furlough,
      holiday, hooky, imperfection, impoverishment, inadequacy,
      incompleteness, insufficiency, lack, leave, leave of absence,
      leaving, miss, necessity, need, negation, negativeness, negativity,
      nihility, nonappearance, nonattendance, nonbeing, nonentity,
      nonexistence, nonoccurrence, nonreality, nonsubsistence, not-being,
      nothingness, nullity, omission, paucity, privation, running away,
      sabbatical leave, scantiness, scarcity, shortage, shortcoming,
      shortfall, sick leave, starvation, truancy, truantism, unactuality,
      unexcused absence, unreality, vacancy, vacation, vacuity, vacuum,
      void, want, wantage