Link Centre Dictionary

furlough

fur·lough

UK/ˈfɜː.ləʊ/ US/ˈfɝ.loʊ/ uncommon uk us
noun (1) verb (2)

noun

1.

verb

1.

dismiss, usually for economic reasons

  • “She was laid off together with hundreds of other workers when the company downsized”
Synonyms
2.

grant a leave to

  • “The prisoner was furloughed for the weekend to visit her children”

Origin

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.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.