LIE


Meaning of LIE in English

I.

noun

ADJECTIVE

▪ big , big fat ( informal ), great , monstrous

He told a big fat ~!

▪ little

▪ absolute , complete , downright , flat-out ( AmE ), outright , total

That's a downright ~!

▪ little white , white

A little white ~ is surely excusable.

▪ deliberate

▪ bald-faced ( AmE ), barefaced , blatant , obvious , transparent

▪ elaborate

a web of elaborate ~s

▪ outrageous

▪ vicious

VERB + LIE

▪ be

That's a lie—I never said that!

▪ tell (sb)

▪ believe , swallow

How could she swallow such a blatant ~?

▪ expose

▪ live

He lived a ~ for thirty years, ‘married’ to two women.

LIE + NOUN

▪ detector

PHRASES

▪ a pack of ~s , a tissue of ~s , a web of ~s

▪ give the ~ to sth , put the ~ to sth (= prove that something is not true)

▪ spread ~s (about sb)

II.

verb

1 be in a flat position

ADVERB

▪ down

He was lying down on the bed.

▪ there

He just lay there smiling.

▪ comfortably , helplessly , limply , peacefully , quietly

PREPOSITION

▪ on

She lay on her stomach.

▪ in

She likes to ~ in bed all day.

PHRASES

▪ ~ asleep , ~ awake

I used to ~ awake at night worrying about it.

▪ ~ dead , ~ unconscious

A man lay dead in the middle of the road.

▪ ~ face down , ~ prone ( formal ), ~ prostrate ( formal )

He was lying face down in the mud.

▪ ~ face up , supine ( formal )

Lie face up with your feet on the floor.

▪ ~ flat

I was lying flat on the floor.

▪ ~ motionless , ~ still

Lie still while I put the bandage on.

▪ ~ naked

She was still lying naked on the bed.

▪ ~ sprawled

She lay sprawled on the sofa.

2 say sth that is not true

ADVERB

▪ convincingly

He was unable to ~ convincingly.

▪ easily

▪ constantly , repeatedly

▪ blatantly

▪ deliberately , intentionally

▪ completely , outright , totally (all AmE )

PREPOSITION

▪ about

She ~d about her age.

▪ to

Don't ~ to me.

PHRASES

▪ ~ through your teeth

▪ ~ under oath

Lie is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ challenge , ↑ corpse , ↑ crux , ↑ danger , ↑ destiny , ↑ difference , ↑ difficulty , ↑ dilemma , ↑ distinction , ↑ dust , ↑ explanation , ↑ farm , ↑ fog , ↑ greatness , ↑ guilt , ↑ hair , ↑ hand , ↑ hope , ↑ house , ↑ loyalty , ↑ mist , ↑ remains , ↑ route , ↑ shadow , ↑ snow , ↑ success , ↑ talent , ↑ taste , ↑ truth , ↑ value , ↑ weakness

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .