lay off
[verb]
Synonyms: dismiss, discharge, let go, make redundant, pay off
[noun]
Synonyms: dismissal, discharge, unemployment

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English Thesaurus: fire, sack/give somebody the sack, lay somebody off, make somebody redundant, let somebody go, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

lay off phrasal verb (see also lay)

1. lay somebody ↔ off to stop employing someone because there is no work for them to do ⇒ layoff:
The company laid off 250 workers in December.
Millions of people have been laid off in the steel industry.

2. lay off (something) informal to stop using or doing something:
I think you’d better lay off alcohol for a while.
lay off doing something
I had to lay off running for several months.

3. lay off (somebody) informal to stop annoying someone or hurting them:
Just lay off, will you!
I wish he’d lay off me!

4. lay something ↔ off to pass the ball to someone in your team in a game such as football – used in sports reports
lay something off to somebody
Murphy has the ball and then lays it off to Owen.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

ˈlay-off noun [countable]
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

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

fire (also dismiss formal) to make someone leave their job, especially because they have done something wrong:
He was fired for surfing the Internet during work time.
Harris was caught stealing, and was dismissed from his job.
sack/give somebody the sack British English informal to make someone leave their job, especially because they are not good at it, or because they have done something wrong:
Bates was sacked from his job after the team failed to win any games.
His boss gave him the sack for taking too much time off work.
lay somebody off to make a lot of workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages:
3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
make somebody redundant British English to make someone leave their job because they are no longer needed:
5 staff will be made redundant at the end of this month.
let somebody go to make someone leave their job, Used by employers to avoid saying directly that they are getting rid of people:
We’ve had to let two members of staff go.
discharge to make someone leave their job in the army, air force etc:
Grant had been discharged from the navy for threatening an officer.
ease somebody out to make someone leave their job in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave:
He had been eased out of office in an attempt to prevent a political crisis.
relieve somebody of their post/position formal to make someone leave their job because they have done something wrong. Used especially to avoid saying this directly, and also when the job is a powerful one:
The colonel and two other senior officers were relieved of their posts.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

fire flames that burn in an uncontrolled way and destroy or damage things:
In April, a fire at the school destroyed the science block.
a forest fire
flames the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air:
The flames from the burning building were lighting up the night sky.
blaze written a large and dangerous fire – used especially in news reports:
Firemen fought to keep the blaze under control.
inferno written an extremely large and dangerous fire which is out of control – used especially in news reports:
The entire building was on fire and hundreds of people were trapped in the inferno.
conflagration /ˌkɒnfləˈɡreɪʃən $ ˌkɑːn-/ formal a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, trees etc:
The conflagration spread rapidly through the old town.
sack/give somebody the sack British English informal to make someone leave their job, especially because they are not good at it, or because they have done something wrong:
Bates was sacked from his job after the team failed to win any games.
His boss gave him the sack for taking too much time off work.
lay somebody off to make a lot of workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages:
3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
make somebody redundant British English to make someone leave their job because they are no longer needed:
5 staff will be made redundant at the end of this month.
let somebody go to make someone leave their job, Used by employers to avoid saying directly that they are getting rid of people:
We’ve had to let two members of staff go.
discharge to make someone leave their job in the army, air force etc:
Grant had been discharged from the navy for threatening an officer.
ease somebody out to make someone leave their job in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave:
He had been eased out of office in an attempt to prevent a political crisis.
relieve somebody of their post/position formal to make someone leave their job because they have done something wrong. Used especially to avoid saying this directly, and also when the job is a powerful one:
The colonel and two other senior officers were relieved of their posts.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

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 prices by 10%.

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

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

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

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lay off
1. • lay off (someone)
stop bothering someone, leave someone alone
The coach told the players to lay off the new player so that he could relax before the game.

2. • lay off (something)
stop using or taking something bad (alcohol/drugs/chocolate/cigarettes)
I was told by my doctor to lay off smoking or I would be sick in the future.

3. • lay off (workers/staff)
reduce the number of workers when business is bad
Six hundred workers at the automobile factory were recently laid off.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lay off something
• lay off (something)
stop using or taking something bad (alcohol/drugs/chocolate/cigarettes)
I was told by my doctor to lay off smoking or I would be sick in the future.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lay off
v. phr.
1. To mark out the boundaries or limits.
He laid off a baseball diamond on the vacant lot.
Compare: LAY OUT⁵.
2. To put out of work.
The company lost the contract for making the shoes and laid off half its workers.
3. slang To stop bothering; leave alone.
■ Usually used in the imperative.
Lay off me, will you? I have to study for a test.
4. slang To stop using or taking.
His doctor told him to lay off cigarettes.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲