lay off vs place

lay off

verb
  • To place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk. 

  • 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. 

  • To plan out (a navigational course) using a chart. 

  • To cease, quit, stop (doing something). 

  • (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. 

  • To stop bothering, teasing, or pestering someone; to leave (someone) alone. 

place

verb
  • To arrange for or to make (a bet). 

  • To finish second, especially of horses or dogs. 

  • To sing (a note) with the correct pitch. 

  • To earn a given spot in a competition. 

  • To rank at (a certain position, often followed by an ordinal) as in a horse race. 

  • To remember where and when (an object or person) has been previously encountered. 

  • To establish a call (connection by telephone or similar). 

  • To put (an object or person) in a specific location. 

  • To recruit or match an appropriate person for a job, or a home for an animal for adoption, etc. 

  • To place-kick (a goal). 

noun
  • An inhabited area: a village, town, or city. 

  • Numerically, the column counting a certain quantity. 

  • A state of mind. 

  • The position of first, second, or third at the finish, especially the second position. 

  • An area of the body, especially the skin. 

  • An open space, particularly a city square, market square, or courtyard. 

  • The position of a contestant in a competition. 

  • A location or position in space. 

  • Reception; effect; implying the making room for. 

  • The area one occupies, particularly somewhere to sit. 

  • A role or purpose; a station. 

  • A street, sometimes but not always surrounding a public place, square, or plaza of the same name. 

  • The area where one lives: one's home, formerly (chiefly) country estates and farms. 

  • A particular location in a book or document, particularly the current location of a reader. 

  • The position as a member of a sports team. 

  • Ordinal relation; position in the order of proceeding. 

  • An area to urinate and defecate: an outhouse or lavatory. 

  • Any area of the earth: a region. 

How often have the words lay off and place occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )