hall pass
13
2.3
- noun
- /hɔl pæs/
- US
:
pase
- The student raised his hand and asked, "Can I go to the bathroom? I have my hall pass."
- get a hall pass
- give out a hall pass
- need a hall pass
Examples
-
You two have a hall pass for that?
-
May I see your hall pass?
-
Can I have a hall pass?
-
- You have your hall pass, young lady?
-
Do you have a hall pass?
-
Where is your hall pass?
-
- I have a hall pass.
-
Do you have a hall pass?
Fiction book (2001) -
Ms. Sarkosian, may I use the hall pass?
-
Where's your hall pass?
Synonyms
374
1.6
An official ticket that allows entry to a place or event
A written pass that lets someone leave a place for a short time
How Official
Surface Forms
Morphology
While the word 'pass' (a permit) is transparent, the constituent 'hall' (a corridor) gives no cue to the idiomatic sense of permission for sexual/romantic activity; a B1 learner would most likely infer the literal school-related meaning (a permit to be in the hall) rather than the relationship-related sense. The romantic/sexual meaning is a culturally specific extension and cannot be predicted from the parts, so it is opaque to learners who know only the individual words.
Etymology
Hall pass comes from schools where a student carried a small pass to be in the hall during class. That paper showed the student had 'written permission' to leave class, so the phrase means 'permission to leave class'.