1
general::
Phrase(s): lay off (someone or something)
to leave someone or something alone. • Lay off the booze for a while, why don’t ya? • Lay off me! I didn’t do anything!, Phrase(s): lay someone off (from something)
to put an end to someone’s employment at something. • The automobile factory laid five hundred people off from work. • They laid off a lot of people. • We knew they were going to lay a lot of people off., Phrase(s): lay off ((of) someone or something)
to stop doing something to someone or something; to stop bothering someone or something. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) • Lay off of me! You’ve said enough. • Please lay off the chicken. I cooked it as best I could., Phrase(s): lay off ((from) something)
to cease doing something. • Lay off from your hammering for a minute, will you? • That’s enough! Please lay off.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
1. Terminate a person from employment. For example, When they lost the contract, they had to lay off a hundred workers. This expression formerly referred to temporary dismissals, as during a recession, with the idea that workers would be hired back when conditions improved, but with the tendency of businesses to downsize in the 1990s it came to mean "terminate permanently." [First half of 1800s] 2. Mark off the boundaries, as in Let's lay off an area for a flower garden. [Mid-1700s] 3. Stop doing something, quit, as in Lay off that noise for a minute, so the baby can get to sleep, or She resolved to lay off smoking. [Early 1900s] 4. Stop bothering or annoying someone, as in lay off or I'll tell the teacher. [Slang; c. 1900] 5. Place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker so as to reduce the risk. For example, Some book makers protect themselves by laying off very large bets with other bookmakers. [Mid-1900s]
American Heritage Idioms