1
: a period of inactivity or idleness
2
: the act of laying off an employee or a workforce
also
: shutdown
laid off; laying off; lays off
1
: to mark or measure off
2
: to cease to employ (a worker) often temporarily
3
of a bookie
: to place all or part of (an accepted bet) with another bookie to reduce the risk
1
: to stop doing or taking something
2
: to leave one alone
wish you'd just lay off
Examples of layoff in a Sentence
Noun
The company announced the layoff of several hundred employees.
More layoffs are expected at the factory later this year.
The band finally has a new album after a three year layoff.
a layoff of three years
Verb
you need to lay off eating those jelly doughnuts, or you'll end up looking like one
Recent Examples on the Web
Diane Brady, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
The slight downward revision from what the administration had provided last Friday included the disclosure that roughly 800 employees within the Department of Health and Human Services were erroneously issued layoff notices.
—NPR, 17 Oct. 2025
Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
This comes after the agency laid off 600 employees in August.
—Joseph Choi, The Hill, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for layoff
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show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Noun
Nestlé announces layoffs Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil announced in a LinkedIn post on Thursday that the company is laying off more than 16,000 employees—mostly white-collar positions—to cut costs.
—Diane Brady, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
The slight downward revision from what the administration had provided last Friday included the disclosure that roughly 800 employees within the Department of Health and Human Services were erroneously issued layoff notices.
—NPR, 17 Oct. 2025
Verb
The company has been forced to jack up prices and lay off workers.
—Matt Egan, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2025
This comes after the agency laid off 600 employees in August.
—Joseph Choi, The Hill, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for layoff
Cite this Entry
“Layoff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/layoff. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
layoff
1 of 2 noun
lay·off
ˈlā-ˌȯf 
1
: the act of laying off an employee or a work force
2
: a period during which there is no activity
lay off
2 of 2 verb(ˈ)lā-ˈȯf
1
: to mark or measure off
2
: to stop employing (a person) often temporarily
lay off workers
3
: to stop doing or taking something
lay off of that stuff
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