Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Furlough
Fur′lough
,Noun.
[Prob. fr. D. ]
verlof
, fr. a prefix akin to E. for
+ the root of E. lief
, and akin to Dan. forlov
, Sw. förlof
, G. verlaub
permission. See Life
, Adj.
(Mil.)
Leave of absence; especially, leave given to an officer or soldier to be absent from service for a certain time; also, the document granting leave of absence.
Definition 2025
furlough
furlough
English
Noun
furlough (countable and uncountable, plural furloughs)
- A leave of absence or vacation.
- (US) especially one granted to a member of the armed forces, or to a prisoner.
- 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” in Going to Meet the Man, Dial, 1965,
- And I had a lot of things on my mind and I pretty well forgot my promise to Mama until I got shipped home on a special furlough for her funeral.
- 1957, James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,” in Going to Meet the Man, Dial, 1965,
- (Britain) especially one granted to a missionary.
- (US) especially one granted to a member of the armed forces, or to a prisoner.
- The documents authorizing such leave.
- (US) A period of unpaid time off, used by an employer to reduce costs.
- 2008 November 7, Jon Ortiz, “State workers rip Schwarzenegger's job furlough plan”, in The Sacramento Bee:
- The state estimates the one-day-a-month furlough spread over the 18 months of the plan would amount to a 5 percent cut in pay.
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Quotations
- For usage examples of this term, see Citations:furlough.
Translations
leave of absence
documents authorizing leave of absence
period of unpaid time off used by an employer to reduce costs
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Verb
furlough (third-person singular simple present furloughs, present participle furloughing, simple past and past participle furloughed)
- (transitive) To grant a furlough to (someone).