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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for laying off
Verb
-
And a whistle was called for offside, ending the counterattack.
-
But that era is ending because memory is becoming the bottleneck.
Verb
-
And the heat’s not stopping anytime soon.
-
Video shows how chase led to deadly crash Instead of stopping, the purple car accelerated and sped through a red light, according to video from Joel’s dashboard camera.
Verb
-
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.
-
While this weekend was about celebration, the recent announcement that another USL SL club, the Spokane Zephyr, is ceasing operations after just two seasons, put the overall plans for the league’s growth in question.
Verb
-
On Friday, Russian authorities in Crimea announced a state of emergency after halting all fuel sales to civilians in response to Ukrainian attacks earlier in the week.
-
It was also reworded to clarify Apollo is not halting all redemption requests.
Verb
-
According to the Wall Street Journal, the export control directive that led to Anthropic cutting off access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 was triggered in part by cybersecurity research from Amazon and conversations between CEO Andy Jassy and the White House.
-
It’s told from the perspective of a man who, ten years after cutting off his parents, reflects on their lives and on his upbringing.
Verb
-
Smart power strips can help reduce energy waste by automatically shutting off devices not in use.
-
Tehran cemented its grip on the Strait of Hormuz; a few more tankers managed to pass through in the last few days, albeit only by either negotiating in advance with Iran, or by shutting off their transponders and racing through.
Verb
-
Now, though, some branches are breaking off.
-
In November 1987, after breaking off her engagement with Estevez, Moore married Bruce in Las Vegas.
Verb
-
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was one of many fans who took to social media to voice his displeasure with the service cutting out.
-
Fans of peptides are increasingly cutting out the middleman and ordering directly from gray-market suppliers.
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.
Cite this Entry
“Laying off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laying%20off. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
