furlough vs give the ax

furlough

verb
  • To grant a furlough to (someone). 

  • To have (an employee) not work in order to reduce costs; to send (someone) on furlough. 

noun
  • A period of unpaid time off, used by an employer to reduce costs. 

  • The documents authorizing such leave. 

  • especially one granted to a member of the armed forces, or to a prisoner. 

  • especially one granted to a missionary. 

give the ax

How often have the words furlough and give the ax occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )