chomage

plural chomages

1. countableobsoleteuncountableA period when a mill, factory, etc. stands still or idle.

   For many generations the canal was regularly dried once a year, for an interval of a month or six weeks, for the purpose of repairs. These chomages, as they are called, now, however, take place only once in two or in three years.

   1851, The Farmer's Magazine, page 536