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

• dismissal
• firing
• layoff

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

The local union branch is working to make sure that the collective bargaining agreement is honored during the furlough and organizing workshops to help members navigate unemployment benefits and career resources. —Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2025

That standoff stretched for 35 days, leading to the furlough of more than 350,000 federal workers and forcing 400,000 others to work without pay. —Marina Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 22 Oct. 2025

Verb

With hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contract workers furloughed and without pay, that adds to the strain on nonprofits that are needed to help fill the gap. —Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2025

The problem with that is, that legislation gave too much power to an OMB director, Russell Vought, that’s already out of control, and firing people, furloughing people, ending government agencies. —ABC News, 26 Oct. 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