Link Centre Dictionary

Also Inflected form of lie

lay

UK/leɪ/ US/ˈleɪ/ common slang
verb (5) adjective (2) noun (2)

verb

1.

put into a certain place or abstract location

  • “Put your things here”
  • “Set the tray down”
  • “Set the dogs on the scent of the missing children”
  • “Place emphasis on a certain point”
Synonyms
2.

put in a horizontal position

  • “lay the books on the table”
  • “lay the patient carefully onto the bed”
Synonyms
3.

prepare or position for action or operation

  • “lay a fire”
  • “lay the foundation for a new health care plan”
4.

lay eggs

  • “This hen doesn”
5.

impose as a duty, burden, or punishment

  • “lay a responsibility on someone”

adjective

1.

concerning those not members of the clergy

  • “set his collar in laic rather than clerical position”
  • “the lay ministry”
  • “the choir sings both sacred and secular music”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

not of or from a profession

  • “a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease”
Similar

noun

1.
2.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English lay, laye, laie, ley, leye, which may have multiple origins: * Potentially from *læġ-, an unattested variant stem of Old English lagu m (“sea, flood, water, ocean”), if transferred to a-stem inflection (compare Old English dæġ-, dag- (“day”) > Middle English day, daw-); compare plural Middle English lawes and lauen. If so, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lagu (“water, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *laguz (“water, sea”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“water, body of water, lake”). * Alternatively, borrowed from Old French lai, from Latin lacus (“lake, hollow, hole”), also from Proto-Indo-European *lókus. * Alternatively, borrowed from leg-, a stem of Old Norse lǫgr, from Proto-Germanic *laguz. Compare Icelandic lögur (“liquid, fluid, lake”). All of these theories make it a doublet of loch, Looe, and lough.

Phrases

  • a wild goose never laid a tame egg
  • best laid plans
  • by the lay
  • cable-laid rope
  • cross lay
  • get laid
  • hawser-laid rope
  • laid back
  • laid up
  • lay about
  • lay analysis
  • lay brother

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.