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furlough

noun

  1. extended period of leave from military service or imprisonment to return home
  2. temporary leave of employees due to special needs of a company or employer
L299295 on Wikidata ↗

verb

  1. to grant furlough or leave to
  2. to lay off
L331788 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈfɜː.ləʊ/ / /ˈfɝ.loʊ/ / /ˈfɜː.ləʉ/

name

Etymology: English surname, probably a variant of Farlow.

  1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Dutch verlof (“furlough”), probably from Middle Low German verlōf (“furlough, permission”) (possibly via German Verlaub), from the verb verlōven (“to allow”), from Old Saxon far- + lōvian (“to trust, believe”). From Middle Low German also German Verlaub, Danish forlov. Doublet of leave.

  1. A leave of absence or vacation.

    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.

  2. A leave of absence or vacation.
  3. The documents authorizing such leave.
  4. A period of unpaid time off, used by an employer to reduce costs.

    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.

verb

Etymology: From Dutch verlof (“furlough”), probably from Middle Low German verlōf (“furlough, permission”) (possibly via German Verlaub), from the verb verlōven (“to allow”), from Old Saxon far- + lōvian (“to trust, believe”). From Middle Low German also German Verlaub, Danish forlov. Doublet of leave.

  1. To grant a furlough to (someone).
  2. To have (an employee) not work in order to reduce costs; to send (someone) on furlough.

    This implies, for example, that firms should not revise their estimated production capacity downwards when furloughing workers, but should do so after laying off staff permanently.