lay off

lay off
verb
1. put an end to a state or an activity (Freq. 3)
-

Quit teasing your little brother

• Syn: ↑discontinue, ↑stop, ↑cease, ↑give up, ↑quit
• Ant: ↑continue (for: ↑discontinue)
• Derivationally related forms: ↑cessation (for: ↑cease), ↑cease (for: ↑cease), ↑stop (for: ↑stop), ↑stoppage (for: ↑stop), ↑discontinuation (for: ↑discontinue), ↑discontinuance (for: ↑discontinue)
• Hyponyms:
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s something

-

Something ——s something

-

Somebody ——s VERB-ing

-

Somebody ——s to INFINITIVE

 (for: ↑cease)
-

Somebody ——s to INFINITIVE

 (for: ↑stop)
2. dismiss, usually for economic reasons (Freq. 1)
-

She was laid off together with hundreds of other workers when the company downsized

• Syn: ↑furlough
• Derivationally related forms: ↑layoff
• Hypernyms:
• Hyponyms: ↑downsize
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s somebody

* * *

informal give up

I laid off smoking for seven years

■ [usu. in imperative] used to advise someone to stop doing something

lay off-he's not going to tell you

* * *

lay off [phrasal verb]
1 lay (someone) off or lay off (someone) : to stop employing (someone) because there is not enough work

The company has had to lay off most of the staff.

Costs have increased and many workers have been laid off. [=let go]

— see also ↑layoff
2 lay off (something) informal : to stop doing, using, eating, or drinking (something)

You should lay off the late nights. [=you should stop staying up so late]

My doctor advised me to lay off caffeine.

He's a much nicer person since he laid off the booze. [=since he stopped drinking alcohol]

I need to lay off fatty foods and lose some weight.

3 lay off or lay off (someone) informal : to leave someone alone : to stop annoying someone

I wish you'd just lay off!

Lay off me! [=stop bothering me]

• • •
Main Entry: ↑lay

* * *

ˌlay ˈoff | ˌlay ˈoff sb/sth derived
(informal) used to tell sb to stop doing sth

•

Lay off me will you— it's nothing to do with me.

•

\lay off doing sth

Lay off bullying Jack.

Main entry: ↑layderived

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • lay off — [v1] stop doing cease, desist, end, give a rest, give up, halt, leave alone, leave off, let up, lie by, quit, rest, spell; concepts 119,234 Ant. begin, start lay off [v2] relieve of responsibility discharge, dismiss, drop, fire, let go, oust, pay …   New thesaurus

  • lay-off — n an occasion when an employer ends a worker s employment for a temporary period of time because there is not enough work ▪ more lay offs in the car industry →lay off …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • lay off — lay (someone) off to force a worker to give up a job, usually because of high costs or other business reasons. She was laid off along with many others when the company moved to California. Our choices are to lay off ten workers, or raise our… …   New idioms dictionary

  • Lay-off — auch: Lay|off 〈[lɛıɔ̣f] n. 15〉 vorübergehende Entlassung von Arbeitskräften [engl.] …   Universal-Lexikon

  • lay-off — ˈlay off , layoff noun [countable] HUMAN RESOURCES the act of stopping a worker s employment because there is not enough work for them to do: • a layoff affecting more than 500 workers • Some employees at the company are getting layoff notices ( …   Financial and business terms

  • Lay-off — auch: Lay|off 〈[lɛıɔ̣f] n.; Gen.: s, Pl.: s〉 vorübergehende Entlassung von Arbeitskräften [Etym.: engl.] …   Lexikalische Deutsches Wörterbuch

  • lay|off — «LAY F, OF», noun. 1. a dismissing of workers temporarily: »The majority of those affected will be seasoned employees whose layoff dates will be advanced from one to two months as compared with last year (Wall Street Journal). 2. a time during… …   Useful english dictionary

  • lay off — ► lay off 1) discharge (a worker) temporarily or permanently because of a shortage of work. 2) informal give up. Main Entry: ↑lay …   English terms dictionary

  • lay off — (something) to stop doing or using something. She usually runs several miles every day but lays off in the hot weather …   New idioms dictionary

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