lay off vs give the sack

lay off and give the sack both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
lay off	No	No	Yes	No
give the sack	No	No	Yes	No

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

lay off: dismiss, usually for economic reasons
give the sack: terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position

Other hypernyms of lay off include can, dismiss, displace, fire, force out, give notice, give the axe, sack, send away, terminate.

lay off (verb)	give the sack (verb)
dismiss, usually for economic reasons	terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position
put an end to a state or an activity