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

On Wednesday, Lopez was sentenced to probation, with a six-year prison sentence suspended for five years, and ordered to complete a work furlough program after pleading guilty to DUI causing injury and having a blood-alcohol content of over 0.15%. —Christian Martinez, The Mercury News, 20 Mar. 2025

Failure to agree a deal by Friday at midnight will result in federal workers going on furlough and not receiving pay while nonessential government functions would be put on pause. —Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025

Verb

With government funding cut off, Trump could have furloughed thousands of federal employees. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 19 Mar. 2025

An additional 29 international and 78 domestic employees will be furloughed with a reduced schedule. —Shaela Foster, Baltimore Sun, 18 Mar. 2025

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