laid off

verb

past tense of lay off
as in stopped
to bring (as an action or operation) to an immediate end you need to lay off eating those jelly doughnuts, or you'll end up looking like one

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for laid off
  1. stopped
  2. ceased
  3. ended
  4. halted
  5. quit
  6. shut off
  7. broke off
  8. left off
Verb
  • The first leg was stopped after Vinicius Junior said he had been racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, who denied the allegation.
    — Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • British driver Ollie Millroy thanked rival Loek Hartog for saving his life after the Dutch racer stopped and pulled him from a burning Ferrari during a China GT Championship race in Shanghai on Saturday.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of stopped
Verb
  • It’s long ceased to be a neighborhood that puts on airs, an attitude that liberates us all tonight.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Under Minasian, who replaced Eppler after the 2020 season, even the high-profile moves ceased.
    — Andy McCullough, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of ceased
Verb
  • United ended their four-season sleeve sponsorship with DXC Technology in August, with the team instead wearing the standard Premier League sleeve patches, as required by league regulations, for the opening games.
    — Laurie Whitwell, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Disagreements over how to resolve the problem created a political crisis that ended an alliance between leading figures in the government that came to power in 2024.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of ended
Verb
  • This wider story spans five centuries from the first enslavement of the Caribbean Lucayan and Taíno in 1492 to the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978, which slowly halted the stealing of tens of thousands of Native children through adoptions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Unifor, the Canadian auto union, has halted contract talks with Stellantis.
    — Liam Rappleye, Freep.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of halted
Verb
  • Staff quit without notice – presumably for better pay or shorter shifts at nursing homes and hospitals.
    — Jayme Fraser, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026
  • McCalla wanted to bridge these social divides, which eventually led him to quit football to do more on campus.
    — Jesse Dougherty, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of quit
Verb
  • Most movies are paired with local live acts to fill the air as the crowd mills in or to keep the party going long after the projector shuts off.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Britton told me that extensive meditation can prompt the prefrontal cortex to essentially shut off the brain’s emotional centers, causing feelings to seem blunted.
    — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of shut off
Verb
  • Authorities have also warned of potential further collapse around the glacier on Langtang Lirung mountain in Nepal, which cracked and broke off, triggering the August 26 landslide and flooding.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The mysterious glade is actually likely a piece of land that broke off from the reservoir’s shoreline as a result of record-high water levels this year.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of broke off
Verb
  • Notable Senate candidates left off the list of speakers include Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, both running in toss-up races that could decide control of the Senate.
    — Hannah Demissie, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Cowritten with Verena Lochmuller, with additional contributions by Milli Taylor and Tara Wigley, the book picks up where the original left off.
    — The Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of left off
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

laid into
laid off
laid off (of)
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Cite this Entry

“Laid off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laid%20off. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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