I. ˈlā verb
( laid ˈlād ; laid ; laying ; lays )
Etymology: Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English lecgan; akin to Old High German leggen to lay, Old Norse leggja, Gothic lagjan; causative from the root of Old English licgan to lie — more at lie
transitive verb
1. : to bring down with force : beat down : strike prostrate
a blow from a swinging club laid him in the dust
wheat laid flat by the wind and rain
2.
a. : to put or set down : place so as to lie flat : place carefully or gently
laid a comforting hand on his shoulder
laid her hat on the table
b. : to place (as in bed) for rest or sleep ; especially : bury
c. : to copulate with — not often in formal use
d. : to cause (as land) to disappear below the horizon or to seem lower and lower by moving away — opposed to raise
3.
a. : to produce and deposit (an egg)
b. : to set (as a mine) in the ground or in water
c. : to drop (a bomb) or spread (a smoke screen) from an airplane
4. obsolete : to put down (as in writing, in rhyme, in Latin) : couch
5. : to cause to be still : calm , allay
manufacture an oil especially to lay waves — H.A.Calahan
lay the dust
chased the clouds … and laid the winds — John Milton
especially : to cause (a ghost or spirit) to return to the grave or lower world
6.
a. : to deposit as a wager : bet ; also : to bet on
lay the favorite
b. obsolete : pledge , mortgage
7. dialect England : to assist in childbirth : deliver
8. : to press down smooth and even
brushing to lay the nap
warp slashing lays the surface fibers of the yarn, making it more compact, smoother, and stronger — Encyc. of Chem. Technol.
9. : layer
10.
a. obsolete : to impose a tax on : assess
b. obsolete : to deal a blow to
11.
a. obsolete : to set a watch or ambush on (a place)
b. obsolete : to quarter (as soldiers) upon
12.
a. : to dispose over or along a surface
lay a pavement
lay an ocean cable
or a prepared position
lay a railroad track
lay a sewer
lay pipe to a spring
b. : to spread on a surface
lay plaster
lay paint
c. : to place (as brick, stone, or tile) in a wall or a pier
d. : to put (strands) in place and twist to form a rope, hawser, or cable ; also : to make (as a rope, cable, cordage, yarn) by so doing — often used with up
13. : to set in order for a meal
lay the table
places were laid for three people
14.
a. : impose — sometimes used with down
b. : to place (new type) in a case — compare distribute
15.
a. : to impose as a duty, burden, or punishment
lay a tax on land
his father laid an injunction upon him never to reveal the secret
b. : inflict
lay blows
c. : to put or cast as a burden of reproach
found someone to lay the blame on
d. : to advance as an accusation : charge , impute
the disaster was laid to faulty inspection
guilt for the murder was laid at his door despite strenuous denials
16. : to place (something immaterial) on something
lays stress on correct grammar
laid special stress on cleanliness
17. : to prepare the outlines or details of : contrive
when they … slay for passion's sake, they lay no elaborate schemes — Dorothy Sayers
deep- laid plot
must somehow form part of the pattern, or lay the design of the book — F.A.Swinnerton
18. : to put in place : put to : apply
laid the watch to his ear
lay siege to a town
as
a. : to put in position for action or operation
lay a fire in the fireplace
lay glass for grinding
dogs were laid on the scent
the ship was laid alongside the pier
thought it all out before laying pen to paper
b. : to adjust (a fieldpiece or machine gun) with the proper direction and elevation to obtain the desired trajectory
19. : annex , appropriate
woe unto them that … lay field to field — Isa 5:8 (Authorized Version)
20. : to cause to lie in a (specified) condition
so mad I'd like to lay his head open with a liquor bottle — Earl Hamner
lay waste the land
employees … whose behavior lays them open to blackmail — Elmer Davis
seem to have laid the writers under certain inhibitions — V.L.Parrington
21.
a. : to present for consideration : put forward : assert , state , allege
lay claim to an estate
laid an information against the Kitchen Committee … for selling liquor without a license — A.P.Herbert
b. : to submit for examination and judgment
laid his case before the commission
22. : to place fictitiously
scene is laid in wartime London
23. : to line up : assemble
lay aft on the quarterdeck all the liberty party
intransitive verb
1. : to produce and deposit eggs
2. nonstand : lie I
3.
a. : wager , bet
b. : to assert strongly : predict , declare
4. dialect : to await an opportunity : plan , prepare , scheme
laying for a chance to escape
5.
a. : to apply oneself vigorously
laid to his oars
b. nautical : go , come ; especially : to place oneself in a specified position
lay aloft
lay forward
6. chiefly Midland , of the wind : to decrease in force : subside
Synonyms: see set
•
- lay aboard
- lay a course
- lay a finger on
- lay an egg
- lay at
- lay bare
- lay by the heels
- lay eyes on
- lay for
- lay hands on
- lay hold of
- lay into
- lay it on
- lay one's account
- lay oneself out
- lay one's finger on
- lay on the line
- lay on the table
- lay on the wood
- lay wait
II. noun
( -s )
1. : something that lies or is laid or as if laid: as
a. : layer , stratum
b. obsolete : wager
c. obsolete : chance , hazard
d. dialect England : tax ; especially : a pecuniary tax levied by local authority
2. : a place to lie or lodge : covert , lair
3.
a. : line of action : plan , tack
b. : line of business or work : occupation
4.
a. : terms of sale or employment : price
he sold his farm at a good lay
b. : a share of the profit of a venture (as on a whaling or fishing vessel) paid wholly or partly in lieu of wages
c. : employment on shares
5.
a. : a strip or layer of leather or felt laid upon or beneath another in a harness or saddle
b. : a layer or thickness of cloth ; especially : a layered pile of cloth on which patterns are laid out by cutters in the garment trade
6.
a. : the amount of advance of any point in a rope strand for one complete turn
b. : the nature of a fiber rope as determined by the amount of twist put into the rope, the angle of the strands in the rope, and the angle of the threads in the strands — see hard lay , long lay, medium lay , ordinary lay , soft lay
c. : the direction in which the components of a rope or cable are laid
7. : the way in which a thing lies or is laid in relation to something else : position or arrangement of parts: as
a. : topographical features and situation
the houses … took form from the lay of the land to which they were fastened — Isa Glenn
b. : the manner in which parts of garment patterns are laid out on the cloth for cutting
c. : the direction of tool or abrasive marks on a machined surface
8.
a. : the position of a sheet to be printed relative to the printing surface
b. : the plan or scheme of arrangement of the type in a case or of the keyboard of a typesetting machine
c. : the arrangement of imposed pages on the stone or of printed pages in the signature ; also : a plan showing such arrangement — called also laydown
d. : a guide or gage to which a sheet is laid when being fed into a printing press
9. : the plowshare of a moldboard plow
10.
a. : the state of one that lays eggs : the capacity to lay eggs
a hen just coming into lay
in full lay
b. : the act of laying an egg
time of lay
11. : a partner in sexual intercourse — usually considered vulgar
III.
past of lie
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French lai, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse lag tune, meter, layer, due place, order — more at law
1. : a simple narrative poem : ballad
2. : melody : a melody fragment : song
birds chanting their cheerful lays
V. adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French lai, from Late Latin lacius, from Greek laikos of the people, from laos people + -ikos -ic
1. : belonging or relating to those not in holy orders : not of the clergy : not clerical : not ecclesiastical
politics and commerce had gradually become dominant with crusaders, and the conduct of the enterprises became more completely lay — H.O.Taylor
the Vatican not interested in supporting either the lay republicanism of France — Times Literary Supplement
2. : of or relating to members of a religious house that are occupied chiefly with domestic or manual work — distinguished from choir
lay brothers
lay sisters
3. : not of or from a particular profession : not having special training or knowledge : unprofessional : common , ordinary
lay public
lay citizen
like so many other lay writers with little actual building experience — S.H.Van Gelder
lay opinion
lay vocabulary
Synonyms: see profane
VI.
dialect Britain
variant of lea I
VII. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration of lathe (IV)
1. : a section of a loom that oscillates and carries the reed, shuttle boxes, and batten during the process of beating up ; specifically : the batten of a loom that beats up the newly laid filling
2. Scotland : lathe IV 1