lay someone off

Meanings

1. 1phrasephrasal verb

   to stop employing a worker, usually because there is not enough work or money

   Grammar: Takes an object; the object can go between lay and off or after off: They laid off 200 workers. / They laid 200 workers off.

   Patterns

   • lay off someone
   • lay someone off
   • be laid off

   The factory laid off 200 workers when orders fell.

   She was laid off last month and is looking for a new job.

   The company plans to lay off staff in the sales department.

2. 2phrasephrasal verbinformal

   to stop doing something annoying or harmful, or to tell someone to stop

   Grammar: Often used in commands or with an object: Lay off! / Lay off the junk food.

   Patterns

   • lay off something
   • lay off doing something

   Lay off! You're bothering me.

   He needs to lay off the cigarettes if he wants to get fit.

Word forms

Common combinations

lay off workers

The company had to lay off workers to cut costs.

be laid off

Many employees were laid off during the recession.

lay off staff

The store laid off staff after the holiday season.

lay off temporarily

The plant laid off workers temporarily because of a parts shortage.

Synonyms and how they differ

dismiss

This is more formal and often suggests the worker did something wrong; lay off is about economic reasons.

make redundant

Common in British English; it means the job is no longer needed, similar to lay off but more formal.

let go

A gentler, less formal way to say someone lost their job; it can also mean to release someone from prison or a contract.

Opposites

Word family

layoff noun

A situation in which workers lose their jobs because there is not enough work.

laid-off adjective

Describing a worker who has lost their job for economic reasons.

Commonly confused: lay someone off or lay off (something)?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “lay someone off”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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