pretending to be out; feigning absence
Used when someone is actually at home but pretends not to be, typically by not answering the door or phone. Often appears in the phrase 居留守を使う.
When the salesman came, I pretended to be out.
He often pretends to be out for troublesome phone calls.
Compound of 居 (i, 'being present') and 留守 (rusu, 'absence'). Literally 'present absence', referring to the act of pretending to be absent while actually being at home.