laying off

verb

present participle of lay off
as in ending
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 laying off
  1. ending
  2. stopping
  3. ceasing
  4. halting
  5. cutting off
  6. shutting off
  7. breaking off
  8. cutting out
Verb
  • Gabby Williams and Tiffany Hayes scored 15 points apiece in the first of back-to-back matchups between the teams at Chase Center, where a raucous sellout crowd cheered Golden State ending a two-game skid that followed a nine-game winning streak.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026
  • That could prove to be true after all thanks to the improbable return of Owens, who shocked the world by coming back just a year and a half after what appeared to be career-ending neck surgery.
    — Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of ending
Verb
  • Nets, Disruptions, and Camouflage Close reading, however, reveals a few telling details about what the Pentagon views as best practices for stopping and killing drones.
    — Zita Ballinger Fletcher, Forbes.com, 30 July 2026
  • Defeat technologies are an essential piece in the kill chain, as detection is only the first step to stopping the threat.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 29 July 2026
Definition of stopping
Verb
  • With the rain ceasing by Saturday evening, however, many suburbs went on with their fireworks as planned.
    — Pioneer Press, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Kraken, one of the oldest crypto exchanges in the global industry, is ceasing on World Cup fever and drawing parallels between soccer fans and ‘hodlers’ in their promotions.
    — Cleve Mesidor, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
Definition of ceasing
Verb
  • Under such an approach, negotiations would focus first on halting the production and advancement of nuclear weapons, rather than demanding the dismantlement of North Korea's existing arsenal at the outset.
    — Se Eun Gong, NPR, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Mail-in ballots in Kansas will have three days after Election Day to arrive at election offices after the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld an earlier decision halting the new law that would remove the grace period.
    — Cuyler Dunn, Kansas City Star, 31 July 2026
Definition of halting
Verb
  • One couple has racked up millions of views for their trailblazing short cut into the Costco parking lot, bypassing the entrance and four-wheeling over the curb and sidewalk, sometimes cutting off drivers about to pull into the vacant spot.
    — Jessica Guynn, USA Today, 30 July 2026
  • Republicans argued before the vote that cutting off the administration's ability to wage war now would tie their hands.
    — Garrett Downs, CNBC, 23 July 2026
Definition of cutting off
Verb
  • Shut Off the Main Water Supply If Needed In some situations, shutting off the toilet’s water supply isn’t enough.
    — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 24 July 2026
  • The second test will be more ambitious, with the rocket launching to 10km, shutting off its engine, and then restarting to land on deployable legs.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 17 July 2026
Definition of shutting off
Verb
  • Now, though, some branches are breaking off.
    — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • In November 1987, after breaking off her engagement with Estevez, Moore married Bruce in Las Vegas.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 21 June 2026
Definition of breaking off
Verb
  • Lacroix can look to be the spare man, cutting out danger with tackles and interceptions (front-foot defending).
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 25 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, Lightspeed’s new Klaviyo integration lets merchants automate personalized customer communications, cutting out manual data work and disconnected tools.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 21 July 2026
Definition of cutting out
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

laying into
laying off
laying off (of)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Laying off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laying%20off. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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