lay

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

   • to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave
   • A shower of rain lays the dust.
   • A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
2. 2

   To cause to subside or abate.

   • The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure […]
   • But how upon the winds being laid, doth the ship cease to move?
3. 3

   To prepare (a plan, project etc.)

   To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

   • Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
4. ›+ 42 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

      • lay brick; lay flooring
   2. 5

      To produce and deposit (an egg or eggs).

      • The hen laid an egg.
      • Did dinosaurs lay their eggs in a nest?
   3. 6

      To bet (that something is or is not the case).

      • I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
   4. 7

      To deposit (a stake) as a wager

      To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.

      • I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.
      • He laid a hundred guineas with the laird of Slofferfield that he would drive four horses through the Slofferfield loch, and in the prank he had his bit chariot dung to pieces and a good mare killed.
   5. 8

      To have sex with.

      • to get laid
      • 'It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.'
   6. 9

      To state

      To state; to allege.

      • to lay the venue
   7. 10

      To point

      To point; to aim.

      • to lay a gun
   8. 11

      To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite…

      To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.

      • to lay a cable or rope
   9. 12

      To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

   10. 13

       To place (new type) properly in the cases.

   11. 14

       To apply

       To apply; to put.

       • The news article laid emphasis on the unusually young age of the criminals.
       • She layeth her hands to the spindle.
   12. 15

       To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).

       • The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
       • to lay a tax on land
   13. 16

       To impute

       To impute; to charge; to allege.

       • God layeth not folly to them.
       • Lay the fault on us.
   14. 17

       To present or offer.

       • to lay an indictment in a particular county
       • I have laid the facts of the matter before you.
   15. 18

       To produce and deposit an egg or eggs.

       • It [the Houdan breed] bears confinement well, can be kept on any soil, is very hardy, lays well, its flesh is all that can be desired, and it is a nonsitter.
       • I never kill a pullet but keep to lay the next year.
       • Eine ausgewachsene Legehenne hat einen Zwischenraum zwischen den Beinen, in den man gut drei Finger legen kann. Ein geringerer Abstand läßt darauf schließen, daß die Henne nicht mehr oder – bei Junghennen – nochnicht legt.
   16. 19

       To subside or abate.

       • I believe the wind is laying and perhaps we will not have a snow. If it turns cold without snow, we can have the hog killed.
       • ... the wind laid and Nature seemed to have recovered her good humor. The landscape smiled again, and we drove about a bit to see what the storm had done.
       • ... the wind laid, and several hours afterward, two half frozen men staggered into the camp.
   17. 20

       To take a position

       To take a position; to come or go.

       • to lay forward; to lay aloft
   18. 21

       To lie

       To lie: to rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

       • I found him laying on the floor.
       • Lay, lady, lay. / Lay across my big brass bed.
       • Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.
   19. 22

       Arrangement or relationship

       Arrangement or relationship; layout.

       • He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves.
       • the lay of the land
   20. 23

       A share of the profits in a business.

       • While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.
   21. 24

       The direction a rope is twisted.

       • Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
   22. 25

       A casual sexual partner.

       • Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay.
       • To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay, Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.
       • “Because I don't want William to be just another lay. I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago. […]
   23. 26

       An act of sexual intercourse.

       • Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay.”
       • Does his make-up in his room Douse himself with cheap perfume Eyeholes in a paper bag Greatest lay I ever had
       • […] She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay, you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully.
   24. 27

       A place or activity where someone spends a significant portion of their time.

       • I shall be on that lay nae mair
       • Since our people have moved this boy on, and he's not to be found on his old lay
       • "Well, you see, son," Kitcell had explained to Wilbur, "os-ten-siblee we are after shark-liver oil— and so we are; but also we are on any lay that turns up; ready for any game, from wrecking to barratry.
   25. 28

       The laying of eggs.

       • The hens are off the lay at present.
   26. 29

       A layer.

       • […] lay in the bottom of an earthen pot some dried vine leaves, and so make a lay of Pears, and leaves till the pot is filled up, laying betwixt each lay some sliced Ginger […]
       • […] the whole Body of the Church is chequer’d with different Lays of White and Black Marble […]
       • […] when we examine the Scarf-Skin with a Microscope, it appears to be made up of several Lays of exceeding small Scales, which cover one another more or less […]
   27. 30

       A basis or ground.

       • On this lay or ground we should also add the finishing colours.
       • In the first MacColl patent the pattern chain and engaging rod were carried on the swinging lay on which the needle bars are mounted.
   28. 31

       A pursuit or practice

       A pursuit or practice; a dodge.

       • FIDLAM BENS. Thieves who have no particular lay, whose every finger is a fish-hook; fellows that will steal any thing they can remove.
       • "It isn't an exchange lay, at all events," said Mr Carlyle. "His inner case is only half the size of the other and couldn't possibly be substituted."
       • Because I've finished, missus. Finished with the thieving lay now and forever.
   29. 32

       A lake.

   30. 33

       Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

       • They seemed more lay than clerical.
       • a lay preacher; a lay brother
   31. 34

       Non-professional

       Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

       • It is true that in adopting the short view many of the younger economists have not merely taken over the lay notions bodily.
       • In what could become a model program for courses across the U.S., this state's gay health consultant has begun training bartenders and bar owners as lay health educators.
   32. 35

       Not trumps.

       • a lay suit
   33. 36

       Not educated or cultivated

       Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

   34. 37

       simple past of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)

       • The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
       • But unlike many other tunnels that lay idle and decaying, Catesby has now found a new use as an aerodynamic wind tunnel for the motor industry.
   35. 38

       A ballad or sung poem

       A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.

       • I strive, with wakeful melody, to cheer The sullen gloom, sweet Philomel! like thee, And call the stars to listen: every star Is deaf to mine, enamour'd of thy lay.
       • If these brief lays, of Sorrow born, ⁠Were taken to be such as closed ⁠Grave doubts and answers here proposed, Then these were such as men might scorn: […]
   36. 39

       A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of…

       A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.

       • 1945: "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" by JRR Tolkien Sad is the note and sad the lay, but mirth we meet not every day.
   37. 40

       A meadow

       A meadow; a lea.

       • Having destroyed all old lays, I have no other hay than clover.
   38. 41

       A law.

       • A woman worthy of immortall prayse, / Which for this Realme found many goodly layes
   39. 42

       An obligation

       An obligation; a vow.

       • they bound themselues by a sacred lay and oth to fight it out to the last man
   40. 43

       To don or put on (tefillin (phylacteries)).

   41. 44

       A river in western France.

   42. 45

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• synonymlaic
• synonymlaical
• synonymlaicist
• synonymlaicistic
• synonymlay
• antonymclerical
• antonymsecular
• neighborlazy
• neighborlaity