furlough

1 of 2

noun

fur·​lough ˈfər-(ˌ)lō 

1

: a leave of absence granted to a governmental or institutional employee (such as a soldier or civil servant)

The Army began furloughs in September as so-called 'sanity checks' for soldiers whose tour has stretched to nearly a year.

—Jenny Deam

also : a document authorizing such a leave of absence

2

: a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time

One possible way to avoid layoffs is through furloughs—making workers take an unpaid leave of absence …

—Paul B. Brown

3

: a set period of time when a prisoner is allowed to leave a prison

Those probation officers are then able to monitor criminals serving their sentences in work camps or on furlough rather than in jail as a way of relieving overcrowding.

—Richard Willing

furlough

2 of 2

verb

furloughed; furloughing; furloughs

transitive verb

1

: to grant a leave of absence or furlough to (someone)

a soldier being furloughed

a furloughed prisoner

2

: to put (a worker) on furlough : to lay off (a worker) for usually a brief or temporary period

… other airlines are placing pressure on the unionized pilots to take large salary cuts—at least those pilots who haven't already been "furloughed" (the word pilots use instead of the more plebeian "laid off").

—George Hopkins

Although no one could supply exact figures, sources in Washington, D.C., said nearly 500,000 federal workers were furloughed for all or part of Thursday. In the Los Angeles-Long Beach area about 11,000 of the 40,000 federal workers were sent home because of the operating fund impasse in Congress.

—Jerry Belcher

Synonyms

Noun

• ax
• axe
• discharge
• dismissal
• layoff
• redundancy [chiefly British]

Examples of furlough in a Sentence

Noun

Each employee will have a one-day furlough every month.

the landscaping company usually has to put most of its personnel on furlough during the extremely slow winter months

Verb

The company will consider furloughing a small number of workers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Boeing said the strike is costing the company nearly a billion dollars a month and led the company to start one-week furlough for employees. —Elaine Mallon, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 12 Oct. 2024

Boeing fuselage maker Spirit AeroSystems earlier this week put about 700 Wichita, Kansas, workers on a 21-day furlough. —Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024

Verb

Spirit has already cut dozens of routes during the upcoming holiday period and furloughed 186 pilots, as well as offered incentives to customers, such as launching a business-class option and blocking off the middle seat. —Chris Morris, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2024

In May 2023, a worker was badly injured in a fall, and in August the lab furloughed most staff for 5 days because of a budget problem. —Byadrian Cho, science.org, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Dutch verlof, literally, permission, from Middle Dutch, from ver- for- + lof permission; akin to Middle High German loube permission — more at for-, leave

First Known Use

Noun

1631, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1781, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing furlough

• on furlough

Kids Definition

furlough

1 of 2 noun

fur·​lough ˈfər-lō 

: a leave of absence from duty granted especially to a soldier

furlough

2 of 2 verb

1

: to grant a furlough to

2

: to lay off from work