lie off

verb

lay off; lain off; lying off; lies off

intransitive verb

1

: to hold back in the early part of a race

2

: to keep a little away from the shore or another ship

3

: to cease work for a time

Examples of lie off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The city of Minneapolis is set to raise property taxes and lay off roughly 100 city workers in an attempt to balance the budget for the upcoming year, Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday. — Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026

Fury has based himself in Thailand for his last two training camps since a 16-month lay off following back-to-back defeats by Oleksandr Usyk. — Chris McKenna, New York Times, 23 July 2026

Bird flu is a real concern for the fate of the kākāpō because most of the population, totalling just 235, lives on one tiny island sanctuary that lies off the wild coast of Rakiura/Stewart Island. — Todd Symons, CNN Money, 22 July 2026

But now that the bill is due, some policymakers are having to raise taxes, and in the worst cases, cut district budgets and lay off educators. — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 3 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1573, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lie off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Video

Lay vs. Lie

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.