knock off vs lay off

knock off and lay off both are verbs.

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

As verbs, lay off is a hypernym of knock off; that is, lay off is a word with a broader meaning than knock off:

Other hypernyms of knock off include cease, discontinue, give up, quit, stop.

knock off (verb)	lay off (verb)
stop pursuing or acting	dismiss, usually for economic reasons
get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing	put an end to a state or an activity
write quickly
take by theft
cut the price of