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Glite Dictionary
on the sick

on the sick

1 8.3
Away from work because you are ill
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : de baja por enfermedad
  • Due to her severe migraine, she had to be on the sick for the rest of the week.

Examples

  • Time to bring on the chronic backache and sign off on the sick.

    Bad Girls: The Musical (2009)

  • After three days of fever, he is finally on the sick and taking a break from work.

  • He was on the sick leave for two weeks after having surgery on his knee.

Synonyms

sick leave
vson the sick
14 2.4

A period away from work because a worker is ill

is absence from work because of illness rather than an approved employer period
out sick
vson the sick
  • US
13 3.4

Away from work or school because you are ill

is used for absence from work specifically rather than any activity

Antonyms

healthy
695 1.0

In good body and mind condition without sickness or injury

at work
680 1.0

You are in the place where you do your job

How Absent

sick leave
14 2.4
on the sick
  • UK
1 8.3
occasionally
438 2.0
at work
680 1.0

Surface Forms

on the sick positive

Morphology

on + the + sick

The constituents 'on' + 'the' + 'sick' literally signal a state of being sick, so a learner who knows the words will likely infer illness. However, the phrase functions idiomatically as a nominalized/dialectal form meaning 'on sick leave' or 'absent from work' (elliptical from 'on the sick list'), a grammaticalized use that is not fully predictable from the parts.

Etymology

On the sick may come from the old workplace 'sick list', a paper where managers wrote who was ill. One popular story says people were literally put on that list, so being on the sick now means 'absent from work because of illness'.