Word.ws English Dictionary

pawternity leave

Syllables: paw·tern·i·ty leave/pɔːˈtɜːnɪti ˌliːv/US/pɔˈtɜɹnəti ˌliv/

pawternity leave noun: time off work granted to an employee to take care of a pet, especially a cat or dog.

Noun

pawternity leave (usually uncountable, plural pawternity leaves)

  1. (informal, usually) Time off work granted to an employee to take care of a pet, especially a cat or dog.
    • He hoped that his pawternity leave could provide him with proper time required to train his new dog.
    • [Greg] Buchanan estimates that because 60% of people in the U.K. own some kind of pet, many Brits are warming to the idea of paw-ternity. […] As the owner of a tech company, Buchanan says paw-ternity is actually good for the bottom line. "If you do give time off for paw-ternity leave, you are...2016 May 2, David Leville, “U.K. employers offering paid ‘paw-ternity’ leave for new pet owners”, in USA Today, McLean, Va.: Gannett Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2024

Examples of pawternity leave in a sentence

  • Pawternity leave allows new pet owners to take time off from work to get their newest four-legged family member settled into a new home and routine.2021 April 30, Susan Paretts, “The Benefits of Taking ‘Pawternity’ Leave”, in American Kennel Club, archived from the original on 03 Dec...
  • "Pawternity leave"—time off specifically to tend to a new or sick pet—remains a niche workplace perk, but some members of the New York City Council want to change that.2024 November 15, Ray A. Smith, “Pet Sick Days are the New Employee-perk Battleground [print version: Time Off to Care for a Pet?...

Synonyms of pawternity leave

Forms of pawternity leave

pluralpawternity leaves

Origin of pawternity leave

Blend of paw + paternity leave.

Questions about pawternity leave

What does pawternity leave mean?
Pawternity leave means time off work granted to an employee to take care of a pet, especially a cat or dog.
How do you use pawternity leave in a sentence?
Pawternity leave allows new pet owners to take time off from work to get their newest four-legged family member settled into a new home and routine.
What part of speech is pawternity leave?
Pawternity leave is a noun.
How do you pronounce pawternity leave?
Pawternity leave is pronounced /pɔːˈtɜːnɪti ˌliːv/ (UK).
What is the plural of pawternity leave?
The plural of pawternity leave is pawternity leaves.

Words near pawternity leave in the dictionary

  1. pawstep
  2. pawsteps
  3. Pawtella
  4. pawtener
  5. pawteners
  6. pawternity leave
  7. pawternity leaves
  8. pawties
  9. pawtism
  10. Pawtucket
  11. Pawtuckets

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pawternity leave (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pawternity leave.wav.

Cite this entry: “pawternity leave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pawternity_leave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.