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
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
Paul B. Brown3
: 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
Richard Willing
furloughed; furloughing; furloughs
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
George HopkinsAlthough 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
Jerry BelcherSynonyms
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
Aaron Boxerman, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2025
Lawmakers reached a bipartisan agreement Tuesday on a continuing three-month resolution to prevent a shutdown and furlough thousands of federal employees over the holidays.
—George Petras, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
New Atlas, 23 Dec. 2024
During the last one, in 2018 and 2019, thousands of federal workers were furloughed or experienced disruptions in pay.
—Mychael Schnell, The Hill, 21 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for furlough 
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Noun
Israel denied a request to grant her a humanitarian furlough to attend the funeral.
—Aaron Boxerman, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2025
Lawmakers reached a bipartisan agreement Tuesday on a continuing three-month resolution to prevent a shutdown and furlough thousands of federal employees over the holidays.
—George Petras, USA TODAY, 20 Dec. 2024
Verb
Plus, the company furloughed 82 employees last week, and also idled its Oklahoma factory – where it's believed to have produced only a small number of vehicles for fleet customers.
—New Atlas, 23 Dec. 2024
During the last one, in 2018 and 2019, thousands of federal workers were furloughed or experienced disruptions in pay.
—Mychael Schnell, The Hill, 21 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for furlough
Dictionary Entries Near furlough
Cite this Entry
“Furlough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furlough. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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 verb1
: to grant a furlough to
2
: to lay off from work
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