lay off
(of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a severance package.
lay
/leɪ/
noun 11verb 6adj 4name 2
Collocations
6(verb.)
ADV
carefully, gently, tenderly
down
She carefully laid down the sleeping baby in her crib.
PREP
on
He laid his wet jacket on the chair to dry.
over
The workers laid thick concrete over the old cracked driveway.
PHRASAL VERBS lay sth out
ADV
tastefully, well
The garden was well laid out with flowers and vegetables in neat rows.
Definitions
verb
1
To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave
A shower of rain lays the dust.
2
To cause to subside or abate.
The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure […]
But how upon the winds being laid, doth the ship cease to move?
3
To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
4
To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
lay brick; lay flooring
5
To produce and deposit (an egg or eggs).
The hen laid an egg.
Did dinosaurs lay their eggs in a nest?
noun
1
Arrangement or relationship; layout.
He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves.
the lay of the land
2
A share of the profits in a business.
While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.
I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company.
3
The direction a rope is twisted.
Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
4
A casual sexual partner.
Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay.
To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay, Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.
5
An act of sexual intercourse.
Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay.”
Does his make-up in his room Douse himself with cheap perfume Eyeholes in a paper bag Greatest lay I ever had
noun
1
A lake.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
noun — a narrative poem of popular origin
noun — a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
verb — put in a horizontal position
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
lay hands on
To find, obtain, or procure.
If we can lay hands on some chicken wire and a black light, we can make some scary Halloween decorations.
lay to rest
To bury someone who has died.
He was laid to rest beneath the old oak tree in 1825.
lay a finger on
To merely touch.
If you lay a finger on my little brother, I'll have your guts for garters.
lay an egg
To produce an egg.
During the mutiny of 1857–58, when several young surgeons had arrived in India, whose services were urgently needed at the front, it is said that the Head of the Department to whic
Example Bank
601
to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave
Wiktionary02
A shower of rain lays the dust.
Wiktionary03
A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
Wiktionary04
He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves.
Wiktionary05
the lay of the land
Wiktionary06
While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, lay is marked as archaic, obsolete, colloquial. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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