laying off

present participle and gerund of lay off

(US, idiomatic, transitive) (of an employer) To dismiss (workers) from employment, e.g. at a time of low business volume or through no fault of the worker, often with a severance package.
(transitive) To place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.
(idiomatic, transitive) To cease, quit, stop (doing something).
(idiomatic, intransitive, transitive) To stop bothering, teasing, or pestering someone; to leave (someone) alone.
(ambitransitive) In painting, to apply gentle strokes to smooth a wet coat of paint so as to remove visible roller- or brush-marks, commonly using a dry brush; a similar technique, but using a loaded laying-off brush, may produce a smooth coat of paint when using a roller or the usual brush techniques would leave marks.
(transitive) To plan out (a navigational course) using a chart.