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''layoff'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260125123911-00-⌔
layoff - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
layoff (plural layoffs)
- (chiefly US) A dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct).
- A period of time when someone is unavailable for work.
- ✤ One of the muscles on the point of the shoulder was torn loose and it didn’t need more than a glance to see that Mr. Hickey was in for a long lay-off. He wouldn’t pitch again for quite a spell, if ever;1
- ✤ But even the return of skipper Steven Gerrard from a six-week injury layoff could not inspire Liverpool2
- ✤ After a ten-month layoff, during which extensive testing had taken place in conjunction with AEI, the ‘Blue Trains’ resumed full operation on October 2 1961, […].3
- ✤ At tech companies that spent recent years expanding paid parental leave, parents have felt the whiplash of mass layoffs in an especially visceral way.4
- (UK, soccer) A short pass that has been rolled in front of another player for them to kick.
- A bet that is laid off, i.e. placed with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.
Etymology
Deverbal from lay off.
Pronunciation
- Audio (Southern England): 🔊
Printed 2026-06-28.
(echo:: @ ⌗)
Link to original Footnotes
1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post : ↩
2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport , archived from the original on 16 March 2017: ↩
2021 July 28, Ben Jones, “When BR got cracking after withdrawal of ‘Blue Trains’”, in RAIL, number 932, page 32: ↩
2023 April 11, Kurtis Lee, “California Economy Is on Edge After Tech Layoffs and Studio Cutbacks”, in The New York Times , →ISSN, archived from the original on 19 April 2023: ↩
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