1Leave of absence, especially that granted to a member of the armed services.

1. 1.1US A temporary release of a convict from prison.
   ‘a system that allowed murderers to leave prison for weekend furloughs’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The saga about a convict on furlough from prison in Massachusetts sent shivers up the spines of even the most devoted Democrats.’
   • ‘His revolving door prison policy gave weekend furloughs to first-degree murderers not eligible for parole.’
   • ‘Surely he remembers the controversies over prison furloughs and the death penalty.’
   • ‘The governor gave him a prison furlough.’
   • ‘I had to settle for the village butcher, the smithy, and several burly convicts on furlough from the nearby penitentiary.’
   • ‘That same year the Eagle-Tribune staff won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on problems in the Massachusetts prison furlough system, and Casey contributed to that coverage.’
   • ‘They received ‘conditional release,’ the equivalent of early release for good behavior, after several one and two-day furloughs in anticipation of discharge.’
   • ‘The officials cited, as officials do, ‘policy,’ in this case a policy that bars furloughs for perpetrators of violent crimes and for inmates who are more than 12 months from parole eligibility.’
   • ‘Some of these rewards included: 8 hour furloughs, conjugal visits, food packages sent in by family, vocational courses, and collegiate level courses were offered.’
   • ‘Such men, if they persisted in their resistance, were confined in army camps or imprisoned, except for a small number who were furloughed for civilian work.’
   • ‘The policy of supervising furloughed inmates spread to the southwestern part of the state in 1989.’
2. 1.2US A layoff, especially a temporary one, from a place of employment.
   ‘Committee members said retirement is a preferred solution to employee furloughs or layoffs.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Among the company's most objectionable demands are that workers returning from layoff would receive only 70 percent of their previous wage and that furloughs be substituted for layoffs.’
   • ‘The cuts will affect all work groups and will be accomplished through a combination of part-time work schedules, furloughs and permanent layoffs.’
   • ‘The bankrupt airline, announced plans to lay off or furlough 350 maintenance and 100 reservations personnel.’
   • ‘An arbitrator halted the second round of furloughs and instituted the trigger point for rehiring laid off workers.’
   • ‘University president Geoffroy announced earlier this month that employee furloughs will not be part of the university's budget-cutting strategy.’
   • ‘Following September 11, the airline announced the furlough of approximately 20,000 employees and a 20-percent reduction worldwide in its flight schedule.’
   • ‘A five-day furlough would reduce each employee's salary by an estimated 2 percent.’
   • ‘Postponed construction projects and furloughs for employees are among the strategies that university leaders have identified for meeting an $18.56 million mid-year budget deappropriation proposed last month by Gov.’
   • ‘The other 380 or so furloughed employees will receive full salary through December 2, and Churchill will continue to pay its share of the employees' medical insurance through December 31.’
   • ‘The school board had plans to furlough all 12,000 of its school employees for several days, but angry protests by parents and teachers may lead to three or more unpaid days off for 30 top administrators.’
   • ‘The so-called relief package, however, would not apply to 1,000 white-collar workers, thousands of others who were taking voluntary leaves, or hundreds of pilots and other unionized workers who are to be furloughed in coming weeks.’
   • ‘If the state Legislature is unable to come up with cuts during the regular session, furloughing workers will be considered, he said.’

1US Grant leave of absence to.

1. 1.1Lay off (workers), especially temporarily.
   ‘President Reagan furloughed “nonessential” employees’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Schemes to furlough employees for a couple of weeks, for example, may be a mere inconvenience for faculty, but a major problem for staff who, at low pay, can hardly afford to spend two weeks out of work.’
   • ‘A proposal to furlough employees for four to five unpaid days over winter break has been dropped.’
   • ‘That Saturday, September 15, Bethune announced that Continental would furlough 12,000 workers.’
   • ‘Next on the agenda was deciding not to furlough any employees and to protect all employee jobs.’
   • ‘I could find no shirts in my size, because the factories have furloughed workers and suspended operations.’
   • ‘And that would mean another blow to profits, since furloughed auto workers still must be paid.’
   • ‘Last week the company said it would furlough 2,700 flight attendants starting in January.’
   • ‘Half of the suppliers' 15, 600 workers have either been fired or furloughed since 2000.’
   • ‘Earlier this week the pilots union accepted a plan that would allow the company to furlough hundreds of pilots while others would ‘volunteer’ to fly at a 26 percent salary reduction.’
   • ‘In the hotel industry alone, a minimum of 15,000 to 20,000 jobs have already been eliminated or furloughed.’
   • ‘A year later the company had rehired everyone furloughed and restored the pay scale.’
   • ‘Finally, we had no choice but to furlough people (with the understanding that we would bring every associate back as soon as possible).’
   • ‘I've been furloughed five times and worked for three airlines that went out of business.’
   • ‘I called Colt's media relations consultant to verify details of this story only to discover that he too had been furloughed.’
   • ‘Six months later, Brotherton was furloughed and began chasing work from boomtown to boomtown.’
   • ‘The retail store furloughed a number of employees, including Simmons and Walker, after three years of employment.’
   • ‘Until receiving that guarantee, McCain and Lieberman had held up a vote on a highway bill needed to prevent the furlough on Monday of some 5,000 federal workers and a cutoff of highway money.’
   • ‘If the budget cut is severe enough for a particular year, an institution may possibly institute faculty/staff furloughs (usually on a university basis with state approval).’
   • ‘Other strategies might be to delay the promised salary increases until Jan.1, 2002, or impose furloughs, at a savings to the university of about $900,000 per day.’
   • ‘The carrier lost $459 million in the first quarter alone - even after tens of thousands of furloughs, pay cuts and cheaper aircraft lease payments.’
   • ‘An extended winter break shutdown is in the works (although a proposal to require involuntary furloughs has been dropped).’