Word.ws English Dictionary

layoff

layoff noun: a dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct).

Noun

layoff (plural layoffs)

  1. (US) A dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct).
  2. 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;1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post
    • But even the return of skipper Steven Gerrard from a six-week injury layoff could not inspire Liverpool2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2017
  3. (UK) A short pass that has been rolled in front of another player for them to kick.
  4. A bet that is laid off, i.e. placed with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.

layoff meaning in Tamil

layoff in Tamil

தற்காலிக வேலைமுடக்கம, நிறுத்தி வைப்பு, ஆட்குறைப்பு

Examples of layoff in a sentence

  • 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, [...].2021 July 28, Ben Jones, “When BR got cracking after withdrawal of 'Blue Trains'”, in RAIL, number 932, page 32:
  • At tech companies that spent recent years expanding paid parental leave, parents have felt the whiplash of mass layoffs in an especially visceral way.2023 April 11, Kurtis Lee, “California Economy Is on Edge After Tech Layoffs and Studio Cutbacks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived...

All 22 example sentences with layoff

Synonyms of layoff

Forms of layoff

plurallayoffs
alternative formlay-off

Plural of layoff: layoffs

Origin of layoff

Deverbal from lay off.

Words formed from layoff

Questions about layoff

What does layoff mean?
Layoff means a dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct).
What is layoff in Tamil?
Layoff in Tamil is தற்காலிக வேலைமுடக்கம, நிறுத்தி வைப்பு, ஆட்குறைப்பு. See Layoff meaning in Tamil.
How do you use layoff in a sentence?
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, [...].
What part of speech is layoff?
Layoff is a noun.
What is the plural of layoff?
The plural of layoff is layoffs.

Words near layoff in the dictionary

  1. Laymon
  2. Laymons
  3. layn
  4. Layne
  5. Laynster
  6. layoff
  7. layoffs
  8. Layon
  9. Layons
  10. layout
  11. layouted

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: layoff (page history and authors); layoff (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-layoff.wav.

Cite this entry: “layoff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/layoff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.