lay off
verb
lay off is spelled L-A-Y-O-F-F: 6 letters. People search “lay-off vs layoff” about 20 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, lay off means “(of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lay off?
| Letters | 6: L-A-Y-O-F-F |
|---|---|
| In writing | a phrase: the frequency list counts single words |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you pronounce lay off?
- Australia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-lay_off.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lay off
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: layoff (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of lay off
- lays off present, singular, he/she/it
- laying off participle, present
- laid off participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lay off mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
US(of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a severance package.
- 2
To place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.
- 3
To cease, quit, stop (doing something).
Lay off the singing, will you! I'm trying to study.
- 4
To stop bothering, teasing, or pestering someone; to leave (someone) alone.
Just lay off, okay! I've had enough!
- 5
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)
- 6
To plan out (a navigational course) using a chart.
- 7
simple past of lie off
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of layoff.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lay off in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to dismiss workers from employment:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | virer, licencier |
| German | entlassen |
| Portuguese | despedir |
| Spanish | despedir, destituir, licenciar, dar de baja |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lay off come from?
Deverbal from lay off.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).