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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. quotations examples
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, published 1965
(Britain) especially one granted to a missionary. examples
The documents authorizing such leave. examples
A period of unpaid time off, used by an employer to reduce costs. quotations examples
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.
2008 November 7, Jon Ortiz, “State workers rip Schwarzenegger's job furlough plan”, in The Sacramento Bee
third-person singular simple present furloughs, present participle furloughing, simple past and past participle furloughed
(transitive) To grant a furlough to (someone). examples
(transitive) To have (an employee) not work in order to reduce costs; to send (someone) on furlough. examples