furlough

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A leave of absence or vacation, especially one granted to a member of the armed forces.
2. n. A usually temporary layoff from work.
3. n. A leave of absence from prison granted to a prisoner.
4. n. The papers or documents authorizing a leave: The soldiers had their furloughs in their breast pockets.
5. v. To grant a leave to.
6. v. To lay off (workers).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Leave of absence; especially, in military use, leave or license given by a commanding officer to an officer or a soldier to be absent from service for a certain time. In the United States army the term is used officially only for such leave given to an enlisted man, the same permission granted to a commissioned officer being designated a leave of absence. A soldier availing himself of the permission is said to be furloughed, or on furlough; an officer, on leave. The word is also used to designate the temporary discharge from service of a civilian in the employ of the government. In the United States navy it has a special signification, indicating the condition of an officer off duty either for fault or at his own request and only receiving one half of “waiting-orders pay.”
2. To furnish with a furlough; grant leave of absence to, as a soldier.

Wiktionary

1. n. A leave of absence or vacation.
2. v. transitive To grant a furlough to (someone).

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Mil.) Leave of absence; especially, leave given to an officer or soldier to be absent from service for a certain time; also, the document granting leave of absence.
2. v. (Mil.) To furnish with a furlough; to grant leave of absence to, as to an officer or soldier.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. grant a leave to
2. n. a temporary leave of absence from military duty
3. v. dismiss, usually for economic reasons