I. lie 1 S2 W1 /laɪ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense lay /leɪ/, past participle lain /leɪn/, present participle lying , third person singular lies )
1 . FLAT POSITION
a) [intransitive] to be in a position in which your body is flat on the floor, on a bed etc
lie on/in etc
He was lying on the bed smoking a cigarette.
Don’t lie in the sun for too long.
lie there
For a few minutes he just lay there.
lie still/awake etc
She would lie awake worrying.
The dog was lying dead on the floor.
b) ( also lie down ) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to put yourself in a position in which your body is flat on the floor or on a bed
lie on
Lie flat on the floor.
lie back
She lay back against the pillows.
c) [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to be in a flat position on a surface
lie on/in etc
The papers were lying neatly on his desk.
2 . EXIST [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a problem, an answer, blame etc lies somewhere, it is caused by, exists, or can be found in that thing, person, or situation
fault/blame/responsibility lies with somebody
Part of the blame must lie with social services.
the problem/answer etc lies with/in something
The difficulty lies in providing sufficient evidence.
The strength of the book lies in the fact that the material is from classroom experience.
herein/therein lies the problem/dilemma etc
And herein lies the key to their achievements.
3 . PLACE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a town, village, etc lies in a particular place, it is in that place:
The town lies in a small wooded valley.
The Tasman Sea lies between Tasmania and Australia.
4 . FUTURE [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if something lies ahead of you, lies in the future etc, it is going to happen to you in the future
lie ahead
How will we cope with the difficulties that lie ahead?
lie before
A blank and empty future lay before me.
I was wondering what lay in store for us.
5 . CONDITION [linking verb] to be in a particular state or condition
lie empty/open/hidden etc
The book lay open on the table.
The town now lay in ruins.
6 . lie at the heart/centre/root of something to be the most important part of something, especially the main cause of it:
the issue that lies at the heart of the present conflict
7 . lie low
a) to remain hidden because someone is trying to find you or catch you:
We’ll have to lie low until tonight.
b) to wait and try not to be noticed by anyone:
He decided to lie low for a while after the report came out.
8 . lie in wait (for somebody)
a) to remain hidden in a place and wait for someone so that you can attack them:
a giant crocodile lying in wait for its prey
b) if something bad lies in wait for you, it is going to happen to you
9 . lie (in) second/third/fourth etc (place) British English to be in second, third etc position in a competition:
Liverpool are lying third in the football championship.
10 . lie heavy on somebody formal if something lies heavy on you, it makes you feel unhappy:
The feelings of guilt lay heavy on him.
11 . DEAD PERSON [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if someone lies in a particular place, they are buried there:
Here lies Percival Smythe (=written on a gravestone) .
12 . lie in state if an important person who has died lies in state, their body is put in a public place so that people can go and look at the body in order to show their respect for that person
⇨ let sleeping dogs lie at ↑ sleep 1 (6)
lie around ( also lie about British English ) phrasal verb
1 . lie around (something) if something is lying around, it has been left somewhere in an untidy way, rather than being in its proper place:
If you leave your shoes lying around like that, you’ll trip over them.
Papers and books lay around the room in complete chaos.
2 . if you lie around, you spend time lying down and not doing anything:
I felt so lazy just lying around on the beach all day.
lie behind something phrasal verb
if something lies behind an action, it is the real reason for the action even though it may be hidden:
She soon guessed what lay behind his question.
Two basic assumptions lay behind the policy.
lie down phrasal verb
1 . to put yourself in a position in which your body is flat on the floor or on a bed:
Just lie down on the bed.
2 . take something lying down informal to accept bad treatment without complaining:
I’m not going to take this lying down!
lie in phrasal verb British English
to remain in bed in the morning for longer than usual ⇨ ↑ lie-in
lie up phrasal verb British English
to hide or rest somewhere for a period of time:
The next day they lay up in a cave.
II. lie 2 S3 W3 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle lied , present participle lying , third person singular lies ) [intransitive]
1 . to deliberately tell someone something that is not true:
I could tell from her face that she was lying.
lie to
I would never lie to you.
lie about
She lied about her age.
lie through your teeth (=say something that is completely untrue)
2 . if a picture, account etc lies, it does not show the true facts or the true situation:
Statistics can often lie.
The camera never lies.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ lie/tell a lie to deliberately tell someone something that is not true:
She had lied to protect her son.
|
Are you accusing me of telling lies?
▪ fib verb [intransitive] informal to lie, especially about something that is not very important – used especially by children:
Dan’s fibbing. I didn’t hit him.
▪ make something up/invent something to invent a story, explanation etc in order to deceive someone:
I didn’t want to go so I made up an excuse and said I was busy.
|
He invented the tale to prevent his parents from finding out the truth.
▪ mislead verb [transitive] to make someone believe something that is not true by giving them false or incomplete information:
The government misled the public over the war.
▪ be economical with the truth to only tell someone part of the truth – often used when saying indirectly that someone is lying:
He admitted that he had perhaps been economical with the truth.
▪ perjure yourself/commit perjury to tell a lie in a court of law:
He had perjured himself in court.
|
Witnesses will be prosecuted if they commit perjury.
III. lie 3 S3 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ liar , ↑ lie ; verb : lie; adjective : lying]
1 . [countable] something that you say or write that you know is untrue:
I always know when he’s telling lies.
lie about
I knew that soon she would hear the lies about me.
2 . give the lie to something formal to show that something is untrue:
This report gives the lie to the company’s claims.
3 . the lie of the land
a) the way that a situation is developing at a particular time:
I'll talk to him and get the lie of the land before we go over.
b) the way an area of land has been formed and the physical features it has
4 . (I) tell a lie British English spoken used when you realize that something you have just said is not correct:
It was £25, no, tell a lie, £35.
⇨ live a lie at ↑ live 1 (16)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ tell (somebody) a lie
He got into trouble for telling a lie.
▪ believe a lie
How could you believe his lies?
▪ spread lies (=tell them to a lot of people)
How dare you spread such vicious lies?
■ adjectives
▪ a complete/total/outright lie (=something that is completely untrue)
Of course the whole thing was a complete lie.
|
She didn't want to tell her mother an outright lie.
▪ a white lie (=a small lie that you tell someone for good reasons, for example to avoid hurting their feelings)
We all have to tell white lies sometimes.
▪ a downright lie (=used when something is a clearly a lie, especially when you feel annoyed)
That's a downright lie. I never said any such thing!
▪ a vicious lie (=one that is very unkind and very untrue)
He told the court that it was a vicious lie from beginning to end.
▪ a blatant lie (=an obvious lie)
He felt sure Adams was not convinced by such blatant lies.
▪ a barefaced lie British English , a bald-faced lie American English (=an obvious lie that is told with no sense of shame)
How can you stand there and tell me such a barefaced lie?
▪ an elaborate lie
Her parents didn’t realise that it was all an elaborate lie.
▪ a big lie
The lawyer said it was a ‘big lie’ that Jones had not received the message.
■ phrases
▪ a pack of lies informal ( also a tissue of lies British English formal ) (=a lot of lies)
Everything he had told me was a pack of lies.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' say a lie '. Say tell a lie .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ lie noun [countable] something you say or write that you know is untrue:
Would you tell lies to protect a friend?
|
The allegation is a complete lie.
▪ white lie noun [countable] informal a lie that you tell to avoid upsetting someone:
We all tell white lies sometimes.
▪ fib noun [countable] informal a lie, especially about something that is not very important – used especially by children:
Have you been telling fibs?
▪ porky noun [countable usually plural] British English informal a lie – a very informal use:
He’s been telling porkies again.
▪ falsehood noun [countable] formal a statement that is not true, especially one that is intended to give people the wrong idea about someone or something:
He described the allegations as malicious falsehoods.
▪ untruth noun [countable] formal a lie – used especially when you want to avoid saying the word lie :
Some workers go off and tell untruths about the organisations for which they are working.
▪ fabrication noun [uncountable and countable] formal a story or claim that someone has invented in order to deceive someone, or the act of doing this:
The claim was described as a fabrication by the police prosecutor.
|
He dismissed the charges as pure fabrication.
▪ libel noun [uncountable] law the crime of writing lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, especially in a newspaper or magazine:
She sued the newspaper for libel.
|
libel laws
▪ slander noun [uncountable and countable] law the crime of speaking lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, or an untrue statement which does this:
He’s threatening to sue them for slander.
|
a slander on the good name of the company
|
Linking his name to terrorism was a slander.