lay off1
informal Give up or stop doing something: I laid off smoking for seven years...
- In her defense, laying off the booze would mean seeing him sober…
- Now I'm doing an Amber and trying to quit the fags - my immune system is shot and laying off the smokes should help a bit.
- Im also trying to lay off the dairy after a week of upset stomach.
Synonyms
give up, stop, refrain from, abstain from, not continue, desist from, leave alone, cut out;
North American quit
informal pack in, leave off, kick, give over, knock off
See parent entry: lay
lay-off2
/ˈleɪɒf
/noun
1A temporary or permanent discharge of a worker or workers: the workforce is on strike over lay-offs the most recent lay-off saw staff fall to 175 from 250...
- The temporary lay-off of over 650 workers at the mines will begin on November 17 and 50 workers will be kept on for essential maintenance.
- A spokesman said lay-offs among temporary staff were part of the cyclical nature of the business and that the 350 permanent employees had not been affected.
- ‘You would imagine that some of the negative speculation about the market and the recent spate of lay-offs would have had some effect, but so far there is no sign of it,’ he said.
Synonyms
redundancy, dismissal, discharge;
notice;
unemployment
informal sacking, firing
marching orders;
the sack, the boot, the bullet, the axe, the (old) heave-ho, the elbow, the bounce
2A period during which someone is unable to take part in a sport or other activity due to injury or illness: there were serious doubts over her fitness after such a lengthy lay-off...
- The British number one made his comeback last month after a lengthy lay-off with a shoulder injury, but lost his first two matches back on the tour.
- Despite a lengthy lay-off from the sport, he showed that he has lost none of his speed or punching technique.
- Injury in South Africa was yet another cruel blow to a young man who had fought back from a long period of enforced lay-off through injury.
