What does "layoff" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "layoff"?

Common synonyms include: abeyance, ax, boot, boot, break, caesura.

noun

noun ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A dismissal of employees from their jobs because of tightened budgetary constraints or work shortage (not due to poor performance or misconduct). US
2
the act of laying off an employee or a work force wordnet
3
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;"
4
A short pass that has been rolled in front of another player for them to kick. British
5
A bet that is laid off, i.e. placed with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.

"Research in Motion announced the layoff of 2000 employees and a restructuring of the company."

Deverbal from lay off.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.