Definition/Meaning of absent

• English - Adjective: absent (comparative absenter, superlative absentest) (not comparable) Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present ; (sometimes) missing . When they were able to return to the clinic some months later, certain pieces of equipment were absent . Owing to his own illness and then his family's, Ramzi has often been absent from class this month. We will help him catch up…
• English - Noun: absent (plural absents) (with definite article) Something absent, especially absent people collectively; those who were or are not there. 1772, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin 2001, 30 May The Applause he met with exceeds all belief of the Absent. 1947, Cecil Day Lewis, Poetic Image: That very sense of longing, of yearning for the absent , which 'nostalgia' conveys to us now.…
• English - Preposition: absent In the absence of; without ; except. Absent taxes modern governments cannot function. 2019 September 5, Ian Bogost, “I tried to limit my screen time (It didn't go well)”, in The Atlantic: And the distraction-management software Freedom offers a mode that won’t unlock affected apps absent a telephone-support call.
• English - Verb: absent (third-person singular simple present absents, present participle absenting, simple past and past participle absented) (reflexive) To keep (oneself) away. Most of the men are retired, jobless, or have otherwise temporarily absented themselves from the workplace. 1701-1703, Addison, Remarks on Italy: If after due summons any member absents himself, he is to be fined. (archaic, transitive)…
• English - Alternative forms: abs .