furlough

1 of 2

noun

fur·​lough ˈfər-(ˌ)lō How to pronounce furlough (audio)
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

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 latest round of furloughs related to Boeing’s ongoing machinists’s strike isn’t at Boeing (BA-0.20%). Melvin Backman, Quartz, 18 Oct. 2024 The temporary furloughs will affect employees at Spirit's largest facilities, in Wichita, Kansas, and account for about 5% of Spirit's U.S. workforce, according to its latest annual filing. Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024
Verb
Nick Oxford | Reuters Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems will furlough some 700 workers as a strike by machinists at the plane maker enters its sixth week, a spokesman for the supplier said Friday. Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024 Workers furloughed as a result of the Boeing machinists strike may have also played a role. Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 10 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for furlough 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'furlough.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of furlough was in 1631

Dictionary Entries Near furlough

Cite this Entry

“Furlough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furlough. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

furlough

1 of 2 noun
fur·​lough ˈfər-lō How to pronounce furlough (audio)
: 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

More from Merriam-Webster on furlough

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!