Definition of "lay off"
lay off
verb
third-person singular simple present lays off, present participle laying off, simple past and past participle laid off
(transitive, intransitive, art) 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.