cease vs lay off

cease is a noun but lay off is not a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cease	Yes	No	Yes	No
lay off	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, cease and lay off are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of cease include discontinue, give up, quit, stop.

cease (noun)	lay off (noun)
(`cease' is a noun only in the phrase `without cease') end

cease (verb)	lay off (verb)
put an end to a state or an activity	dismiss, usually for economic reasons
have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical	put an end to a state or an activity