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to furlough

to furlough

11 7.5
To allow someone to leave a job, military duty, or prison for a short time
  • verb
  • /ˈfɜrloʊ/
translation icon : suspender temporalmente (empleo)
  • The big banks furloughed all their staff or lots of their staff.
  • furloughed workers
  • furloughed employees
  • furloughed prisoners

This has led to mass layoffs and furloughed workers.

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Examples

  • Beginning in September, state employees in district attorney offices were being furloughed one day each month until the crisis ends.

    Academic text (2009)
  • After the budget cuts, the school district decided to furlough some of its teachers for the remainder of the semester.

  • In comparison to all these other cities and counties that are having to furlough and are having these terrible pension problems, our situation is excellent.

  • Workers in the private sector have lost jobs, been furloughed, seen their wages cut and their hours reduced, while those in the public sector have not.

  • The University of Illinois furloughed some workers this week after the state failed to come up with $436 million in expected funds.

    Blog text (27)
  • Some 800,000 federal workers are also at risk of being furloughed in the event that the federal government shuts down.

    Blog text (6)
  • Faced with steep financial problems, unpleasant decisions were made, like furloughing roughly 180 teachers.

    Blog text (27)
  • Exide is furloughing workers because of the unions, Christian Leinbach decrees.

    Blog text (8)
  • Due to the economic downturn, many companies have had to furlough their employees temporarily.

  • As a result of the ongoing pandemic, several airlines have furloughed staff until travel demand increases.

Antonyms

to recall
  • Formal
50 4.1

Order someone to return to their job or place

How Long

to dismiss
70 3.3
to suspend
  • Formal
289 4.2
to furlough
11 7.5
to excuse
1.5

Surface Forms

furlough infinitive
furloughed past
furloughed past participle
furloughing present participle
furloughs third person singular

Etymology

Furlough comes from a Dutch word verlof that meant 'permission' or 'leave', like being allowed to go away for a time. So to furlough someone is to give them temporary time off from work or duty.