lay1
/leɪ
/verb (past and past participle laid /leɪd/)
1 [with object and adverbial of place] Put (something) down gently or carefully: she laid the baby in his cot...
- Chuckling, I scooped them up in the palm of my hand and laid them gently on top of a soft pile of Green Stamps and bore them so to London town.
- He scoops up a selection of the sliced eggplant and limps over to the grill on his stovetop, where he carefully lays them to cook alongside the red and yellow peppers.
- Colt lays his hand gently on her shoulder in solidarity.
Synonyms
put, place, set, put down, set down, deposit, rest, situate, sit, settle, stow, balance, station, drop, leave, let fall, throw down, fling down, deploy, locate, position
informal plant, stick, dump, bung, park, plonk, pop, shove
1.1 [with object] Prevent (something) from rising off the ground: there may have been the odd light shower just to lay the dust...
- There was a thunder storm here this morning, and I was hoping that the rain might lay the pollen and dust a bit.
- The rain the day before cooled the air and laid the dust.
- The light rain has laid the dust and little is lifted by your wheels as you drive.
2 [with object] Put down and set in position for use: it is advisable to have your carpet laid by a professional...
- My flat is progressing too, with the bulk of the decorating work likely to be finished this week, and new (cheap and cheerful) carpet to be laid on Wednesday.
- The Red Carpet was especially laid for the guests who really enjoyed their stay there.
- In addition the ventilation system is being improved, seats have been re-covered and new carpets are being laid.
2.1British Set cutlery, crockery, etc. on (a table) in preparation for a meal: she laid the table for dinner...
- No expense had been spared in the ballroom itself, where the tables had been laid for a lavish banquet.
- The Green Room features a table laid ready for a meal.
- I remember looking into one and seeing a little dining table laid out with tiny silver cutlery.
2.2 (often be laid with) Cover (a surface) with objects or a substance: the floor was laid with mattresses...
- As well as the existing handrails, the slopes are also being laid with a non-slip surface.
- In recent years, the surface has been laid with sand and loam.
- Modern display units feature large sliding trays laid with tiles, enabling customers to envisage a whole floor.
2.3Put the material for (a fire) in place and arrange it: he was making newspaper knots before laying a fire in the fireplace...
- Every one of the 400 bedrooms had a coal fire, laid by the staff each day.
- The girl closed the door, lit lamps and a fire that was already laid, then shuttered the only window of the one room cottage, as if wanting privacy.
- A fire has been laid for us in the parlour and I am certain we have much to discuss.
2.4Prepare (a trap) for someone: she wouldn’t put it past him to lay a trap for her...
- She had some sort of trap laid and she was preparing to spring it on him.
- By now, the immediate surroundings were quiet, most of the troops had mustered at the south side of camp in preparation to spring the trap that had been laid.
- He laid a ‘glue trap’ by the hole at the back of my kitchen cupboard.
2.5Work out (an idea or suggestion) in detail ready for use or presentation: I’d like more time to lay my plans...
- French security sources said that advanced plans had been laid to use a stolen truck or a helicopter loaded with explosives.
- Plans had also been laid to raise more then £1 million locally.
- Plans are being laid to turn the clock back 60 years across large swathes of the resort for three days in early September.
Synonyms
devise, arrange, contrive, make, prepare, work out, hatch, concoct, design, plan, scheme, plot, organize, frame, think up, dream up, cook up, brew, conceive, make ready, get ready, put together, draw up, produce, develop, compose, formulate
2.6 (lay something before) Present information or suggestions to be considered and acted upon by (someone): he laid before Parliament proposals for the establishment of the committee...
- We are instructed by the above-named prosecutor, and wish to lay the following information before the court.
- But several requests to lay proposals before the bank met with no serious response except that the bank should simply lend more money.
- He lays the evidence before us, without comment, so that we may draw our own conclusions.
Synonyms
bring, bring forward, put forward, submit, advance, present, press, prefer, offer, lodge, register, place, file, table;
accuse, charge, indict;
North American impeach
2.7Locate (an episode in a play, novel, etc.) in a particular place: no one who knew the area could be in doubt where the scene was laid
2.8 [with object] Stake (an amount of money) in a bet: she suspected he was pulling her leg, but she wouldn’t have laid money on it...
- Something funny is going on here… I'd lay all my money on a bet that it was the Emperor who sent that spell to kill me.
- But despite taking $25,000 bets before, she will be content with laying a more modest wager.
- The money was duly laid down, so Lucas whipped off his kit and plunged in.
Synonyms
bet, wager, gamble, stake, hazard, risk, chance, venture;
give odds, speculate, game
informal punt, have a flutter
3 [with object] Used with an abstract noun so that the phrase formed has the same meaning as the verb related to the noun used, e.g. ‘lay the blame on’ means ‘to blame’: she laid great stress on little courtesies...
- Yet not all the blame can be laid at the feet of the activists, because it was the very nature of the government's debate process that encouraged them to act as they did.
- Much blame can be laid on the corrupt and profit-ravenous food industry that shovels false information and dreadful products down our throats all day long.
- The blame here cannot be laid on some interagency squabble between, say, the State Department and the Pentagon.
Synonyms
assign, attribute, ascribe, allocate, allot, impute, attach, impose, fix;
hold someone responsible, hold someone accountable, hold someone answerable, condemn, find guilty of, pin the blame on
4 [with object] (Of a female bird, insect, reptile, or amphibian) produce (an egg) from inside the body: flamingos lay only one egg [no object]: the hens were laying at the same rate as usual...
- The female wasp lays her eggs inside the developing medfly egg.
- A female butterfly lays an egg that looks like a miniature pearl, or a squashed golf ball, or a whiskey barrel.
- Female flies lay eggs every two or three days, 300 eggs each time, which means the number of flies will rocket if not controlled.
Synonyms
produce
technical oviposit
5 [with object] vulgar slang Have sex with.
6 [with object] Nautical Follow (a specified course): I’m going to lay a course for Ibiza harbour
7 [with object] Trim (a hedge) back, cutting the branches half through, bending them down, and interweaving them: most hedges are no longer laid...
- I had just arrived in the park to do some hedge laying.
- He was particularly skilled at draining with hand tools and either laying or cutting thorn hedges.
- The ancient art of hedge laying is alive and well thanks to a lone Preston craftsman, plying his trade around the area's villages.
noun
1 [in singular] The general appearance of an area of land: the lay of the surrounding countryside...
- Not doing more than getting the lay of the land, but they were there.
- As they say, there is safety in numbers, so if you're in an unfamiliar place, stay with a group, at least until you know the lay of the land.
- Let's take a look at some satellite imagery, give you a sense of the lay of the land of where those pictures are coming from.
1.1The position or direction in which something lies: roll the carpet against the lay of the nap
1.2The direction or amount of twist in rope strands.
2 vulgar slang An act of sexual intercourse.
2.1 [with adjective] A person with a particular ability or availability as a sexual partner.
3 [mass noun] The laying of eggs or the period during which they are laid: the onset of lay may be marked by a dropping of the duck’s abdomen...
- Both male and female breeders are subject to a restricted feeding regime for their first few weeks of life - about 20 days to the point of lay.
Usage
The verb lay means, broadly, ‘put something down’, as in they are going to lay the carpet. The past tense and the past participle of this verb is laid, as in they laid the groundwork or she had laid careful plans. The verb lie, on the other hand, means ‘be in a horizontal position to rest’, as in why don’t you lie on the floor? The past tense of this verb is lay (he lay on the floor) and the past participle is lain (she had lain on the bed for hours). Thus, in correct use, lay can be either the past tense of lie or the base form of lay. In practice many people make the mistake of using lay, laying, and laid as if they meant lie, lying, lay, and lain. Examples of incorrect use: why don’t you lay on the bed? (correct form is lie); she was laying on the bed (correct form is lying); he had laid on the floor for hours (correct form is lain).
Phrases
get laid
in lay
lay something at someone's door
lay something bare
lay a charge
lay claim to
lay down one's arms (or weapons)
lay down the law
lay down one's life
lay eyes on
lay a (or the) ghost
lay hands on (also lay or put one's hands on)
lay hold of (or on)
lay it on the line
lay someone low
lay something on the table
lay something on thick (or with a trowel)
lay someone open to
lay oneself out to do something
lay siege to
lay store by
lay someone/thing to rest
lay something (to) waste
Phrasal verbs
lay about
lay something aside
lay something down
lay something in/up
lay into
lay off
lay someone off
lay something off
lay something on
lay someone out
lay something out
lay over
lay up
lay someone up
lay something up
Origin
Old English lecgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leggen and German legen, also to lie1.
Rhymes
lay2
/leɪ/adjective [attributive]
1Not ordained into or belonging to the clergy: a lay preacher...
- Modern scholarship has done much to rescue the pastoral reputation and moral seriousness of the clergy and their lay supporters at all levels.
- She was training to be a lay preacher, but knew that wasn't where she wanted to be, and wasn't sure where she was going.
- During this time Bethel has been well supported by ministers from the South Wales area, some of them retired, and by lay preachers from the locality.
Synonyms
non-clerical, non-ordained, non-ecclesiastical, secular, temporal;
civil, civilian
rare laic, laical
2Not having professional qualifications or expert knowledge, especially in law or medicine: a lay member of the Health Authority...
- Often faculty are not clinicians but other health professionals and lay community members.
- Newspapers are an important source of information about the results of medical research, both for lay people and health professionals.
- Like lay rules, most professional rules are tacit and informal and are never formally articulated.
Synonyms
non-professional, amateur, non-specialist, non-technical, untrained, unqualified, inexpert;
dilettante
Origin
Middle English: from Old French lai, via late Latin from Greek laïkos, from laos 'people'. Compare with laic.
lay3
/leɪ/noun
1A short lyric or narrative poem meant to be sung: a minstrel recited a series of lays...
- James Macpherson based his Ossianic pieces on these lays.
- We come to the lay's treatment of the third type: the woman, as represented by the wife.
- In no other of Marie's lays is the roster of personages so heavily weighted toward a single gender.
1.1 literary A song: on his lips there died the cheery lay
Origin
Middle English: from Old French lai, corresponding to Provençal lais, of unknown origin.
lay4
/leɪ/ Past of lie1.