give the sack
End someone's employment
To give someone the sack is to dismiss them from employment, to fire them.
The expression likely derives from tradesmen who carried their tools in a sack; being given your sack meant you were no longer needed and should take your belongings elsewhere.
After the restructuring, they gave half the department the sack.
The related phrase get the sack describes the same event from the employee's perspective.
- dismissSend away or reject
- send awayCause to depart
- shown the doorForced out, terminated
- lay offTerminate employment temporarily
- removeTake something away
walking papers · pink slip · fire · terminate · redundancy · squeeze out · firing · downsizing · reduction in force · discharge · severance · golden parachute · furlough · axe · marching orders · kick out · boot out · cut loose