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

See Examples For:

lay off

Staples will also lay off 109 employees at a fulfillment center in La Mirada on Oct.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

For established software companies, charging a client solely based on how many of its employees use the technology is no longer a viable solution, because AI-powered efficiency gains could lead firms to lay off workers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

When Microsoft’s Xbox division said in early July that it would lay off 3,200 people, for instance, it pledged to cut management layers to between three and five.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The 10-brand group, which apart from its namesake also includes marques such as Audi and Porsche, is planning to lay off at least 50,000 in Germany by 2030.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

I was so excited and full of jitters the rest of the afternoon that Nan suggested we lay off the marshmallows.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry