LAYING OFF Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

laying off

verb

present participle of lay off

as in ending

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

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for laying off

Verb

Texas ran for 212 yards, and it all but put the game away on the ground until Ole Miss assembled an evening-ending combination of plays that led to a Hail Mary attempt to potentially win it.

— Mac Engel October 25, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Oct. 2026
Kicker Nick Folk missed an extra point, ending a 67-try streak of perfection that dated back to the 2023 season as well.

— AJC.com, AJC.com, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of ending

Verb

But Pollard was ruled down just outside the end zone in the second quarter, and Cleveland turned the Titans over on downs with Maliek Collins stopping Pollard on fourth-and-goal.

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
But there's nothing stopping users from posting images or videos made with third party filters to the platform — or onto TikTok and Instagram, for that matter.

— Chloe Veltman, NPR, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of stopping

Verb

After fumbling twice in Michigan State territory, halting offensive momentum, the Bruins were trailing going into the second quarter and tied 7-7 with three minutes left in the second quarter.

— Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2026
Democrats used the tools available to force votes that GOP leadership tried to avoid — on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and halting the Iran war.

— ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of halting

Verb

Without natural sand reaching the beaches, high tides and large surf have resulted in entire beaches being covered with water, cutting off access.

— Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 20 Oct. 2026
Deadhead blazing star during the growing season to encourage more flowering, but do not prune too soon, as cutting off the foliage may reduce next year’s blooms.

— Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of cutting off

Verb

Walker turned the corner around a defender near the sideline, breaking off a 76-yard run to get Kansas City near the Las Vegas goal line.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026
Experts believe Wednesday's mudslides and flash flooding across Nepal and China's Tibet region were caused by a large chunk of ice breaking off a glacier and falling into the Lhende Khola River.

— Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Definition of breaking off

Verb

Changing spending habits Other Democratic megadonors are simply cutting out the middleman, picking individual races and candidates to support.

— Luke Fountain, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
The specialists also restored the painting’s linden wood frame by cutting out over 100 missing fragments from it and covering it with gold leaf.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of cutting out

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“Laying off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laying%20off. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of laying off

verb

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