lay off

lay off (third-person singular simple present lays off, present participle laying off, simple past and past participle laid off)

1. (transitive, chiefly US, idiomatic) (of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume, often with a severance package.
2. (transitive) (of a bookmaker) To place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.
3. (transitive, idiomatic) To cease, quit, stop (doing something).

   Lay off the singing, will you! I'm trying to study.

   When are you gonna lay off smoking?

4. (transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To stop bothering, teasing, or pestering someone; to leave (someone) alone.

   Just lay off, okay! I've had enough!

   Things have been better since the boss has been laying off a little.

   I told him to lay off me but he wouldn't stop.

   Lay off it, already!

5. (transitive and intransitive, artisanal terminology) In painting, to apply gentle strokes to smooth a wet coat of paint so as to remove visible roller- or brush-marks, commonly using a dry brush; a similar technique, but using a loaded laying-off brush, may produce a smooth coat of paint when using a roller or the usual brush techniques would leave marks.

   At any pro paint shop ask for laying off brushes. These are natural bristle, wide, thin brushes designed for tipping off, not for holding a paint load. (Sourced from a web forum exchange)

• In the first two transitive senses the object can come before or after the particle (laid off the whole department). If the object is a pronoun, then it must come before the particle (laid them off).
• In the final two idiomatic "cease" senses, all objects, including pronouns, come after the complete phrase (lay off me!).

• (to dismiss workers from employment): make redundant, let go

  The following synonyms carry a harsher context than "lay off":

  • can, dismiss, fire, sack, terminate, give the axe, give the boot, give (someone) their cards, give the chop, give the elbow, give the old heave-ho

  The following is a synonym for the sense of painting:

  • tip off

• See also Thesaurus:lay off

• layoff

• Offaly, offlay