Sorry, we got waylaid at the bar.waylayway‧lay /weɪˈleɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle waylaid) [transitive] 
They used to waylay him as he came out of the factory.2if you are waylaid, you are delayed when you are doing something – often used humorously to say why you are late: Sorry, we got waylaid at the bar.GRAMMAR Waylay is usually passive in this meaning.
WORD ORIGINwaylay
Origin:
1500-1600 way + lay ‘to set a trap for’ (13-19 centuries)VERB TABLE
waylay
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | waylay |
| he, she, it | waylays | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | waylaid |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have waylaid |
| he, she, it | has waylaid | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had waylaid |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will waylay |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have waylaid |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am waylaying |
| he, she, it | is waylaying | |
| you, we, they | are waylaying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was waylaying |
| you, we, they | were waylaying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been waylaying |
| he, she, it | has been waylaying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been waylaying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be waylaying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been waylaying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Thousands of passengers were waylaid by the airline strike.
- Amiss hovered in the gallery, hoping to waylay an informant.
- He waylaid Stella in the paint-frame where she had been sent to boil rabbit glue on the Bunsen burner.
- Her father waylaid Barre-to her chagrin-and boasted about his daughter's talent.
- She had lost count of the number of times she had slapped his hands from her body whenever he waylaid her outside.
- She might just waylay him and hit him with something heavy!
- They came to his home uninvited once or twice and they would waylay him as he emerged from work at the factory.
- Yes, I could be in some danger - and there was an attempt to waylay me today.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Sorry, we got waylaid at the bar.
1if someone waylays you, they stop you when you are going somewhere, for example to attack you or talk to you: Sorry, we got waylaid at the bar. They used to waylay him as he came out of the factory.2if you are waylaid, you are delayed when you are doing something – often used humorously to say why you are late: Sorry, we got waylaid at the bar.GRAMMAR Waylay is usually passive in this meaning.