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<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: lay - lay</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> <A HREF="a.dic">A</A> <A HREF="b.dic">B</A> <A HREF="c.dic">C</A> <A HREF="d.dic">D</A> <A HREF="e.dic">E</A> <A HREF="f.dic">F</A> <A HREF="g.dic">G</A> <A HREF="h.dic">H</A> <A HREF="i.dic">I</A> <A HREF="j.dic">J</A> <A HREF="k.dic">K</A> <A HREF="l.dic">L</A> <A HREF="m.dic">M</A> <A HREF="n.dic">N</A> <A HREF="o.dic">O</A> <A HREF="p.dic">P</A> <A HREF="q.dic">Q</A> <A HREF="r.dic">R</A> <A HREF="s.dic">S</A> <A HREF="t.dic">T</A> <A HREF="u.dic">U</A> <A HREF="v.dic">V</A> <A HREF="w.dic">W</A> <A HREF="x.dic">X</A> <A HREF="y.dic">Y</A> <A HREF="z.dic">Z</A> <A NAME="lay"> lay (1), verb, laid, laying, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD>v.t. 1. to put down; keep down; place in a certain position. Ex. Lay your hat on the table. A shower has laid the dust. (SYN) suppress, quash, quell. <DD> 2. to bring down; beat down. Ex. A storm laid the crops low. (SYN) level. <DD> 3a. to place in a lying-down position or a position of rest. Ex. Lay the baby down gently. When, in the evening of her life, the doctors told her that she must return to Europe, she just laid herself down and died (Observer). (SYN) deposit. <DD> b. to bury. Ex. He was laid in a quiet churchyard. <DD> 4. to place or set. Ex. Lay your hand on your heart. She lays great emphasis on good manners. That author lays the scenes for most of his stories in faraway places. <DD> 5. to put. Ex. The horse laid his ears back. <DD> 6. to cause to be in a certain situation or condition. Ex. to lay a trap, to lay a table for dinner, to lay a wound open. <DD> 7. to put in place, especially in proper position or in orderly fashion. Ex. to lay bricks, to lay the keel of a new liner. They laid the carpet on the floor. <DD> 8. to smooth down; press. Ex. to lay the nap on cloth. <DD> 9. to devise; arrange. Ex. We have laid our plans for dealing with that situation. (SYN) design. <DD> 10. to put down as a bet; wager. Ex. I lay five dollars that he will not come. <DD> 11. to impose (something), such as a burden or penalty. Ex. to lay a tax on tea. They laid an embargo on arms shipments. <DD> 12. to bring forward; place before; present. Ex. to lay claim to an estate. I hope you have no objection to laying your case before the uncle (Oliver Goldsmith). <DD> 13. to blame; bring forward as an accusation or charge; impute; attribute. Ex. She laid her failure to her lack of effort. The theft was laid to him. (SYN) ascribe. <DD> 14. to produce (an egg or eggs). Ex. Birds, fish, and reptiles lay eggs. <DD> 15. to twist yarn or strands together to form (a strand or rope). <DD> 16. to make quiet; make disappear. Ex. to lay a ghost. These fears ought now to be laid. (SYN) allay. <DD>v.i. 1. to produce eggs. Ex. Hens begin laying about December. <DD> 2. to offer a bet; wager. Ex. I lay I'll keep drier on my own shanks (M. E. Carter). <DD> 3. to apply oneself vigorously. Ex. The men laid to their oars. <DD> 4. to lie. Ex. They found him laying on his back. <DD> 5. (Dialect.) to plan; intend. Ex. ... he has laid to arrest me I hear (Ben Jonson). <DD>noun 1. the way or position in which anything is laid or lies. Ex. The lay of the ground hindered my view of the sea (Alexander Kinglake). (SYN) arrangement. <DD> 2. the amount and direction of the twist given to the strands or other components of a rope. <DD> 3. a share of the profits or of the catch of a whaling or fishing vessel. Ex. All hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays (Herman Melville). <DD> 4. (U.S. Dialect.) terms of purchase. <DD> 5. (Slang.) a line of business; field of operations; occupation; job. Ex. He's not to be found on his old lay (Dickens). expr. lay about, to hit out on all sides. Ex. The hunter trapped by a pack of wolves laid about with a heavy stick. expr. lay aside (or away, or by), to put away for future use; save. Ex. I laid away a dollar a week toward a new bicycle. Lay aside that book for me. expr. lay down, <DD> a. to declare; state. Ex. The umpire laid down the conditions for settling the dispute. It is impossible to lay down what man's needs will be (Manchester Guardian Weekly). <DD> b. to give; sacrifice. Ex. Many soldiers lay down their lives in battle. <DD> c. (Slang.) to quit; resign. Ex. Leahy accused the Irish gridders of laying down and, in effect, dubbed them the "Unfighting Irish" (Tuscaloosa News). <DD> d. to store away for future use. Ex. "His first duty is to his family" and is fulfilled ... by laying down vintages (Robert Louis Stevenson). expr. lay for, (Informal.) to stay hidden ready to attack. Ex. The bully laid for me on my way home. expr. lay hold of (or on), to seize; grasp. Ex. For Herod has laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison ... (Matthew 14:3). expr. lay in, to put aside for the future; provide; save. Ex. The trappers laid in a good supply of food for the winter. expr. lay into, <DD> a. to beat; thrash. Ex. She would lay into Master John with her stick (George R. Sims). <DD> b. (Informal.) to scold. Ex. Mother laid into me for not doing my homework. ... laying into a politician who was preparing to do something popular which he knew in his heart was wrong (Economist). expr. lay low. See under low (1). expr. lay off, <DD> a. to put aside. Ex. He laid off his coat as he approached the fire. <DD> b. to put out of work for a time. Ex. Japanese firms try to avoid laying off workers in time of slack business demand (New York Times). <DD> c. (Informal.) to stop teasing, interfering with, or taking part in, for a time; stop; desist. Ex. The thought of the afternoon's work made Studs gloomy. He thought that he might lay off and go home (James T. Farrell). "This song is us, and what we wanna say is: lay off our blue suede shoes, daddy-o" (Atlantic). <DD> d. to mark off. Ex. The surveyor laid off the boundaries of the lot. expr. lay on, <DD> a. to apply. Ex. Gold leaf is laid on with white of egg. <DD> b. to supply; give. Ex. A monumental feast had been laid on for the benefit of myself and of another Scottish friend (Listener). <DD> c. to strike; beat; inflict. Ex. Lay on, Macduff, And damn'd be him that first cries "Hold, enough!" (Shakespeare). <DD> d. to utter (flattery), especially in a fulsome manner. Ex. Well said, that was laid on with a trowel (Shakespeare). expr. lay oneself (or one) open, to expose oneself or another (to). Ex. He lays himself open to ridicule by his many boasts. expr. lay oneself out, (Informal.) to make a big effort; take great pains. Ex. He laid himself out to be agreeable. expr. lay open, <DD> a. to make bare; expose. Ex. The captured spy laid open the whole scheme of the enemy attack. <DD> b. to make an opening in; wound. Ex. With a swift stroke of his sword, he laid open his attacker. expr. lay out, <DD> a. to spread out. Ex. Refreshments were laid out in an adjoining room (H. T. Ellis). <DD> b. to arrange; plan. Ex. The roads had been laid out but were not completed (J. Bacon). They lay out experimental pages, ... prepare picture pages, and eventually produce a newspaper (Saturday Review). <DD> c. (Informal.) to pay out; spend. Ex. I laid out some of my money for purchasing land. <DD> d. to prepare (a dead body) for burial. Ex. They reverently laid out the corpse (Elizabeth Gaskell). <DD> e. (Slang.) to scold or punish. Ex. If I didn't bring in my assignment, the teacher would lay me out (New Yorker). <DD> f. (Slang.) to knock unconscious; put out of the fight. Ex. Never were so many demagogues laid out in one day (Nation). expr. lay over, <DD> a. to stop for a time in a place. Ex. The stagecoach lay over at the inn until the horses were rested. <DD> b. to postpone. Ex. At the same time the board laid over indefinitely a proposed allocation of $3,065,000 (New York Times). <DD> c. (Slang.) to be better than; surpass; excel. Ex. They've a street up there in "Roaring," that would lay over any street in Red Dog (Bret Harte). expr. lay to, <DD> a. to put blame on; ascribe to; impute to. Ex. She laid her failure to her lack of effort. <DD> b. to head into the wind and stand still. Ex. Because of the heavy fog, the ship laid to until the fog lifted. expr. lay up, <DD> a. to put away for future use; save. Ex. The prospectors laid up supplies for the long winter ahead. <DD> b. to cause to stay in bed or indoors because of illness or injury. Ex. The skier is laid up with a broken leg. <DD> c. to put (a ship) out of service for repairs, cleaning, or by decommissioning. Ex. The Peloponnesians ... laid up their fleet for the rest of the winter (Connop Thirlwall). The Navy laid up its old battleships. <DD> d. to land a golf ball close to but without risking a hazard. Ex. Only five men in a field of eighty-three attempted to carry the pond before the green. With everyone else meekly laying up short of the hazard, the hole completely lacked its old glamour (New Yorker). </DL> <A NAME="lay"> lay (2), verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> the past tense of lie (2). Ex. After a long walk I lay down for a rest. </DL> <A NAME="lay"> lay (3), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. of the people of a church not belonging to the clergy. Ex. The lay preacher this Sunday is a businessman during the week. (SYN) laic, secular. <DD> 2. of the people who do not belong to a particular profession. Ex. Doctors feel the lay mind understands little of diseases. </DL> <A NAME="lay"> lay (4), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. a short lyric or narrative poem, especially one intended to be sung; poem. Ex. The only way to please a minstrel was to listen ... to the lays which he liked best to sing (Scott). <DD> 2. a song or tune. <DD> 3. the song of a bird. Ex. The blackbird whistles his lay. </DL> <A NAME="layabout"> layabout, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a habitually idle person; loafer. Ex. A character the English call a layabout, and we would call a bum, springs forward (Joel Sayre). </DL> <A HREF="layanaly.dic">NEXT</A>