go hence without day
go hence without day. (Of a defendant to a lawsuit) to be finished with legal proceedings without any further settings on the court’s calendar. • Thus, a defendant who “goes hence without day” succeeds in getting a case finally resolved, usu. by dismissal. The phrase derives from the Law French phrase aller sans jour, and over time defendants came to use it to request that the case against them be dismissed without the necessity of a day in court. — Sometimes shortened to go without day; without day. See SINE DIE.
