早はや引びき

は

や

び

き

JLPTN1

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

leaving work or school early

Common everyday word for leaving one's workplace or school before the official end time. Often used with する to mean 'to leave early'.

Written forms

早はや引びき
Standard kanji spelling for both senses; the only form for the dictionary lookup sense.
早はや退びき
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form for leaving early; 早引き is far more common.

Kanji

早early, fast
引pull, tug, jerk
退retreat, withdraw, retire

Similar words

早そう退たい
早退 is a more formal term for leaving early, often used in official contexts like school or work records. 早引き is casual and everyday.
早はや引びけ
早引け is a synonym for leaving early, but 早引き is more common in modern usage.

Etymology

Compound of 早 (haya, 'early') and 引き (hiki, the continuative form of 引く 'to pull'), literally 'early pulling'. The meaning 'leaving early' comes from the idea of pulling oneself away from work or school before the usual time. The 'quick lookup' sense extends the idea of pulling out information quickly.