lay off

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to suspend (workers) from employment with the intention of re-employing them at a later date

   the firm had to lay off 100 men

2. informal (intr) to leave (a person, thing, or activity) alone

   lay off me, will you!

3. (tr, adverb) to mark off the boundaries of

4. (tr, adverb) soccer to pass or deflect (the ball) to a team-mate, esp one in a more advantageous position

5. gambling another term for hedge

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noun

1. the act of suspending employees

2. a period of imposed unemployment

lay off Idioms  

1. Terminate a person from employment. For example, When they lost the contract, they had to lay off a hundred workers . This expression formerly referred to temporary dismissals, as during a recession, with the idea that workers would be hired back when conditions improved, but with the tendency of businesses to downsize in the 1990s it came to mean “terminate permanently.” [First half of 1800s]

2. Mark off the boundaries, as in Let's lay off an area for a flower garden . [Mid-1700s]

3. Stop doing something, quit, as in Lay off that noise for a minute, so the baby can get to sleep , or She resolved to lay off smoking . [Early 1900s]

4. Stop bothering or annoying someone, as in Lay off or I'll tell the teacher . [ Slang ; c. 1900]

5. Place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker so as to reduce the risk. For example, Some bookmakers protect themselves by laying off very large bets with other bookmakers . [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

That figure doesn’t account for a round of job cuts the company had announced in February, at which time it said it would lay off around 12% of its U.S. workforce.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026

A year later, the company warned employees it could lay off 100 workers or even “shut down” in a company-wide memo obtained by TechCrunch.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2026

Weeks had to fend off calls by shareholders to lay off employees, or reduce investment in R&D and factories.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

The CEO has moved to cut costs by announcing plans to lay off staff.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

Josh, we're going to try to lay off the fried foods and Golden Dragon.

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander