lays off

verb

present tense third-person singular of lay off
as in stops
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 lays off
  1. stops
  2. ceases
  3. ends
  4. halts
  5. cuts off
  6. breaks off
  7. shuts off
  8. quits
Verb
  • Sterling that migrates from bank deposits into stablecoin reserves stops funding mortgages and business lending, and a fast-growing coin could pull deposits out of the banking system quicker than banks could adjust.
    — Zennon Kapron, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
  • Staff would be expected to evacuate patients in the event of a major tremor, but the plan stops there, according to Bubenek.
    — Andrei Popoviciu, The Dial, 21 July 2026
Definition of stops
Verb
  • As the word ceases to mean a ceasing of fire, new terms have been coined.
    — Harmeet Kaur, CNN Money, 17 July 2026
  • This is not only devastating because Aang appears fatally injured, but because if an Avatar dies in the Avatar State, the entire cycle of Avatar reincarnation ceases and the earth’s balance is forever lost.
    — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 26 June 2026
Definition of ceases
Verb
  • The real challenge is creating enough emotional engagement for audiences, buyers and decision-makers to continue thinking about a project after the meeting ends.
    — E'Ian West, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Former general manager Raegan Pebley is already gone, meaning coach Lynne Roberts is next, probably fired the day after the season ends.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
Definition of ends
Verb
  • If shipping through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea halts, the world could face more economic pain.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 24 July 2026
  • The robot immediately responds to the interruption and halts the operation, illustrating Unitree’s focus on continuous human-robot interaction and dynamic task adaptation.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 21 July 2026
Definition of halts
Verb
  • Remote work cuts off young workers from much of that organic mentoring.
    — Phil Blair, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 July 2026
  • Architects must build a central kill switch that instantly cuts off the AI if an anomaly occurs.
    — Naveen Jayaram, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of cuts off
Verb
  • According to the reports, the malfunctions occurred during the ride's signature ‘tilt' portion, where the segment of track containing the ride vehicle breaks off completely and tilts forward 45 degrees before reconnecting to another piece of track at a 90-degree angle to the ground below.
    — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026
  • If the mouthpiece breaks off, try to remove it without digging into the skin.
    — Sophie Lindberg, Kansas City Star, 8 June 2026
Definition of breaks off
Verb
  • Getting testosterone from a pill or gel shuts off the body’s natural process for making the hormone.
    — Matthew Perrone, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • In cool mode, the fan often stays on while the compressor shuts off, which continuously drains power just to push room-temperature air.
    — Sheila Kim, The Spruce, 21 June 2026
Definition of shuts off
Verb
  • Dru-Ann quits her job Drama over Dru-Ann’s career is pervasive both on the page and onscreen.
    — Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 10 July 2026
  • Operating under the assumption that Platner quits the race in the coming days, Republicans are planning a negative ad blitz to undermine Collins' next opponent immediately.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Definition of quits
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

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

“Lays off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lays%20off. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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