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Definition
a hobby or other activity separate from one's work or profession- She took the job to support her avocation as a painter.
- —while her aunt returned to the house and to those avocations which the visitor had interrupted.Henry James -- The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 2
- Yet he was pursuing his ordinary avocations, smiling mechanically to fellow-tradesmen, and arguing with bargainers—as bereaved men do after a while.Thomas Hardy -- The Mayor of Casterbridge
- It is impossible to keep the judges too distinct from every other avocation than that of expounding the laws.Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers
- Judges cannot be too separate from every other avocation than that of expounding the laws.Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, & John Jay -- The Federalist Papers — Modern English Edition 2
- When he was advised that he had no avocation, he left the island, came to America to study the then budding field of psychiatry.Toni Morrison -- The Bluest Eye
- For almost any other vocation or avocation—singer, potter, zookeeper, any doctor apart from a surgeon—it wouldn't have mattered.Donna Tartt -- The Goldfinch
- 'It is a good heart,' said Nicholas, 'that disentangles itself from the close avocations of every day, to heed such things.Charles Dickens -- Nicholas Nickleby
- "Avocation," Alessandro interrupted.Mark Helprin -- A Soldier of the Great War
- The majority of the searchers had given up the quest and gone back to their daily avocations, saying that it was plain the children could never be found.Mark Twain -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- Lord Steyne used to say to him by way of a good day when they met; and indeed that was now his avocation in life.William Makepeace Thackeray -- Vanity Fair
- Left to herself for the evening she sat a while under the lamp, her hands empty, her usual avocations unheeded.Henry James -- The Portrait of a Lady - Volume 1
- There were two reasons for that: her job as slave labor at the cancer ward and her avocation as a second-degree black belt, a Nidan.James Patterson -- Kiss the Girls
- Mrs. Sanborn was the president of many charity organizations and this had given her an addiction to autocracy such as no other avocation could develop.Ayn Rand -- The Fountainhead
- He'd climb to the summit those of his avocation respected most, and he'd dedicate his climb to Christa's memory.Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin -- Three Cups of Tea
- He was a poet and a goldsmith by avocation, made his living as a limo driver.Amy Tan -- The Bonesetter's Daughter
- Left to herself for the evening she sat a while under the lamp, her hands empty, her usual avocations unheeded.Henry James -- The Portrait of a Lady - Volumes 1 & 2
- I was an artist by vocation, and now by avocation—although it's been considerably more challenging to get my supplies in a place like this.Jodi Picoult -- Change of Heart
- Some time prior to the period at which this little history begins, my avocations had been largely increased.Herman Melville -- Bartleby, the Scrivener: a Story of Wall Street
- After my bomb avocation, I became the organizer of the supercolossal fruit roll.Paul Zindel -- The Pigman