Definition of "departure" []

• The act of leaving. (noun)
• A starting out, as on a trip or a new course of action. (noun)
• A divergence or deviation, as from an established rule, plan, or procedure: ordered curry as a departure from his usual bland diet. (noun)
• Nautical The distance sailed due east or west by a ship on its course. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I would only hope that his departure is a result of some criminal charge a la the NSA-objecting Qwest executive."
• "The thing that really bugs me about his departure is his failure to call out the Republicans as the real culprits behind the Senate dysfunction."
• "The fact that you had tech-policy people who rarely agree with each other on anything agreeing that his departure is a setback should tell you something."