0 a period of time that a soldier, worker, or prisoner is allowed to be absent, especially to return temporarily to their own home:
The union represents about 9,000 active pilots, with nearly 2,000 more pilots currently on furlough.
Employees of the company were told to prepare themselves for a round of furloughs.
It is a crime for a person who has been given a furlough to fail to return to the jail or prison at the required time.
1 to give someone permission to be absent from the armed services, work, or prison for a period of time, especially to return temporarily to their own home:
After safety concerns, the company furloughed all 4,000 of its employees.
Furloughed servicemen must be given preference over civilian travel.
2 a time allowed for a person to be absent, esp. from the army or a prison:
I’m home on furlough.
The intention to marry is sometimes formed after the beginning of a short furlough, and very often the furlough does not extend to seven days.
They were provided with very liberal leave—sick leave and furlough.
Arrangements have already been made to allow these men to proceed on furlough to their homes for harvest work.
The facilities already given for obtaining sufficient cash while on furlough are considered adequate.
Alterations in the scale of duty pay will affect furlough allowances gradually as they enter into the computation of average salary.
The northern command of the corps was relatively organized for the war, because the unit commander took the warnings that war was impending seriously and ordered all furloughs frozen.
The furloughs were not strictly adhered to so long as the soldier eventually showed up at a parole camp to be declared exchanged and returned to duty.
Exemption fraud proliferated in medical examinations, army furloughs, churches, schools, apothecaries and newspapers.
