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

They also expect bigger corporations will play catch up when they see competitors laying off.

From MarketWatch

“It’s a moment of intense uncertainty,” said Sarah Rand, 42, who was laid off from her communications role at the University of Chicago in the spring.

From The Wall Street Journal

The November report continues the trend from before the government shutdown that private employers aren’t laying off workers in large numbers but they also aren’t hiring all that many.

From The Wall Street Journal

They have laid off thousands of workers at EV factories, some of which have been idled.

From The Wall Street Journal

The meat processing company JBS is closing a packing facility in Riverside and will lay off 374 employees, according to a notice from the California Employment Development Department.

From Los Angeles Times