lie1
verb /laɪ/
/laɪ/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they lie | /laɪ/ /laɪ/ |
| he / she / it lies | /laɪz/ /laɪz/ |
| past simple lay | /leɪ/ /leɪ/ |
| past participle lain | /leɪn/ /leɪn/ |
| -ing form lying | /ˈlaɪɪŋ/ /ˈlaɪɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] (of a person or an animal) to be or put yourself in a flat position so that you are not standing or sitting
- lie + adv./prep. to lie on your back/side/front
- She lay in bed listening to music.
- Lie there for a bit until you feel better.
- lie + adj. I lay awake all night worrying about it.
- The cat was lying fast asleep by the fire.
Which Word? lay / lielay / lie- lay has an object and lie does not
- She was lying on the beach.
- She was laying on the beach.
- Why don't you lie on the bed?
- Why don’t you lay on the bed?
- In the past tenses laid (from lay) is often wrongly used for lay or lain (from lie)
- She had lain there all night.
- She had laid there all night.
- Some people use lay as a noun instead of lie, but this is not considered correct
- If you're tired, go and have a lie down.
- Go and have a lay down.
Extra Examples- She likes to lie in bed all day.
- He was lying next to his wife in bed.
- I lay on the sofa reading my book.
- I lay on the grass and fell asleep.
- She wouldn't enjoy a holiday just lying on the beach.
- A man lay dead in the middle of the road.
- They found him lying in a pool of blood.
- They found him lying unconscious at the foot of the stairs.
- He fell on the floor and just lay there not moving.
- Her body lay motionless on the bed.
- Lying there listening to music, I felt at peace.
- He just lay there smiling.
- They stole her belongings while she lay helpless on the bed.
- A sleeping dog lies at his feet.
- He was lying face down in the mud.
- I was lying flat on the floor.
- Lie face up with your feet on the floor.
- Lie still and try to sleep.
- Lie still while I put the bandage on.
- They lay quietly for a while.
- She lay on her stomach.
- She lay sprawled on the sofa.
- He was lying naked on the bed.
- She lay on her back and looked up at the sky.
- The painting depicts a male figure lying prone.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- down
- there
- comfortably
- …
- on
- in
- lie asleep
- lie awake
- lie dead
- …
- [intransitive] (of a thing) to be or remain in a flat position on a surface
- lie + adv./prep. Clothes were lying all over the floor.
- She picked up a pen that was lying nearby.
- lie + adj. The book lay open on the desk.
- Make sure the fabric lies flat.
Extra Examples- He just leaves his wet towel lying on the carpet.
- Broken glass lay scattered all over the floor.
- An empty pill bottle lay on the bedside table.
- He found a piece of quartz lying on the sand.
- She left the letter lying unread on her desk for a week.
- He tried to pick up the gun that was lying close by.
- A stack of waffles lay next to a pile of blueberry pancakes.
- The books lay gathering dust on the shelf.
- Bodies and rubble lay everywhere.
- The cables, pipes and wires that serve New York lie as deep as 800 feet underground.
- The ship now lies at the bottom of the sea.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- down
- there
- comfortably
- …
- on
- in
- lie asleep
- lie awake
- lie dead
- …
- [intransitive] to be, remain or be kept in a particular state
- lie + adj. Houses lie empty while people are homeless.
- These machines have lain idle since the factory closed.
- Snow was lying thick on the ground.
- lie + adv./prep. Much of the city now lay in ruins.
- a ship lying at anchor
- I'd rather use my money than leave it lying in the bank.
Extra Examples- The seeds lie dormant in the soil throughout the winter.
- Passengers were standing up while first class seats lay empty.
- Too many apartments are lying vacant.
- The field is left to lie fallow.
- A tremendous amount of work lay ahead of us.
- None of us knows what lies in front of us.
- These Roman ruins have lain undiscovered for two thousand years.
- This precious film lay untouched in an attic.
- Our plans lay in ruins.
- Their dreams lay in tatters.
- [intransitive] (of ideas, qualities, problems, etc.) to exist or be found
- lie in something The problem lies in deciding when to intervene.
- Our strength lies in our loyal customer base.
- lie with somebody The fault lies with you.
- lie + adv./prep. The answer seems to lie elsewhere.
- We need to consider carefully where our best interests lie.
- Different people see quite different things in this film, and therein lies its genius.
Extra Examples- My main interest lies in his early work.
- The big difference between them lies in their attitudes.
- Her strength lies in her ability to understand her opponent's thinking.
- The challenge lies in the fact that most people do not like to plan so far ahead.
- The appeal of his paintings lies in their simplicity and boldness.
- The answer lies in your hands.
- Where does the answer lie?
- Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between.
- The really important things lie outside of our narrow concerns.
- This is an issue that lies very close to my heart.
- The responsibility lies with your employer to ensure this review is followed up.
- All the power lies with him in this situation.
- Our sympathies lie with the main character.
- The blame lies squarely with the company.
- Thousands of units would be needed, and therein lies the challenge.
- Cloning endangered species may seem a wonderful idea, but where would scientists stop? Herein lies the danger.
- We can guess what lies at the root of her problems: money.
- Joy and love lie at the heart of all his films.
- At the heart of this story there lies a puzzle.
- Between the two of them there lay an unspoken tension.
- [intransitive] lie + adv./prep. (of a town, natural feature, etc.) to be located in a particular place
- The town lies on the coast.
- An island lies in the middle of the lagoon.
Extra Examples- The building dates from around 1700 and lies close to the centre of Vienna.
- The village lies in the foothills of the Dolomites.
- The site lies next to the old library building.
- There's a field lying next to the barn.
- We walked to a stream that lay nearby.
- The palace lies just outside the city walls.
- The airport lies 50 miles east of the city.
- These nations lie close to the sea lanes between Europe and China and Japan.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to be spread out in a particular place
- The valley lay below us.
- [intransitive] (British English) to be in a particular position during a competition
- + adv./prep. Thompson is lying in fourth place.
- + adj. After five games the German team are lying second.
compare lay
Word OriginOld English licgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch liggen and German liegen, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek lektron, lekhos and Latin lectus ‘bed’.
Idioms
be/lie at the bottom of something
- to be the original cause of something, especially something unpleasant
- We need to find out what lies at the bottom of these fears.
- I'd love to know what lies at the bottom of all this.
hang/lie heavy
- hang/lie heavy (on/in something) (of a feeling or something in the air) to be very easy to notice in a particular place in a way that is unpleasant
- Smoke lay heavy on the far side of the water.
- Despair hangs heavy in the stifling air.
- hang/lie heavy on somebody/something to cause somebody/something to feel uncomfortable or anxious
- The crime lay heavy on her conscience.
let sleeping dogs lie
- (saying) to avoid mentioning a subject or something that happened in the past, in order to avoid any problems or arguments
lie ahead/in store
- to be going to happen to somebody in the future
- You are young and your whole life lies ahead of you.
- She didn’t know what lay in store.
- We must be prepared for whatever lies ahead.
- None of us knows what lies in store for us.
lie in state
- (of the dead body of an important person) to be placed on view in a public place before being buried related noun lying-in-state
lie in wait (for somebody)
- to hide, waiting to surprise, attack or catch somebody
- He was surrounded by reporters who had been lying in wait for him.
lie low
- (informal) to try not to attract attention to yourself
see, etc. how the land lies
- (British English) to find out about a situation
- Let's wait and see how the land lies before we do anything.
take something lying down
- to accept an offensive remark or act without protesting or reacting
you’ve made your bed and you must lie in/on it
- (saying) you must accept the results of your actions