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

Pick 'n Save parent company Kroger will close its Pleasant Prairie fulfillment center and lay off 211 employees, one of Wisconsin's biggest job cuts announced this year. —Francesca Pica, jsonline.com, 19 Nov. 2025

Vance has been especially critical of major tech firms that lay off U.S. employees while seeking new H-1B visas. —Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025

Ohio's Starbucks may shrink in the near future after the chain announced plans to close locations nationwide and lay off employees in retail and non-retail positions. —Chad Murphy, Cincinnati Enquirer, 13 Nov. 2025

Traders appeared to be reacting to Paramount’s plans to cut more costs and lay off additional employees. —Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2025

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.