Link Centre Dictionary

lie

UK/laɪ̯/ US/ˈlaɪ/ very common slang
verb (7) noun (3)

verb

1.
2.

be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position

  • “The sick man lay in bed all day”
  • “the books are lying on the shelf”
Antonyms
3.

originate (in)

  • “The problems dwell in the social injustices in this country”
Synonyms
4.

be and remain in a particular state or condition

  • “lie dormant”
5.

tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive

  • “Don”
  • “;”
6.

have a place in relation to something else

  • “The fate of Bosnia lies in the hands of the West”
  • “The responsibility rests with the Allies”
Synonyms
7.

assume a reclining position

  • “lie down on the bed until you feel better”
Synonyms
Antonyms

noun

1.

a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth

Synonyms
2.

Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968)

Synonyms
3.

Origin

From Middle English lien, liggen, from Old English liċġan, from Proto-West Germanic *liggjan, from Proto-Germanic *ligjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognates Cognate with Yola lee, lidge (“to lie”), leigh, leiough (“to idle”), North Frisian lade, lai, laie, lei, lii, läde, läie (“to lie; to lay”), Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lie; to lay”), West Frisian lizze (“to lie”), Alemannic German ligge (“to lie”), Central Franconian lijje (“to lie”), Dutch and Dutch Low Saxon liggen (“to lie”), German liegen (“to lie”), German Low German ligge, liggen (“to lie”), Luxembourgish leien (“to lie”), Yiddish ליגן (lign, “to lie”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ligge (“to lie”), Faroese and Icelandic liggja (“to lie”), Norwegian Nynorsk ligge, liggja, liggje (“to lie”), Swedish ligga (“to lie”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (ligan, “to lie, to rest”); and with Irish laigh, luigh (“to lie”), Manx lhie (“lie; lay”), Scottish Gaelic laigh (“lie; lay”), Faliscan 𐌋𐌄𐌂𐌄𐌕 (lecet, “he lies down”), Latin lectus (“bed”), South Picene 𐌅𐌄𐌉𐌀𐌕 (veiat, “to lie”), Ancient Greek λέχομαι (lékhomai, “to lie down”), Albanian lag (“band, encampment, troop”), Belarusian ляжа́ць (ljažácʹ, “to lie”), Bulgarian лежа́ (ležá, “to l...

Phrases

  • a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on
  • a lie has no legs
  • barefaced lie
  • beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
  • big lie
  • black lie
  • blue lie
  • butler lie
  • butter one's bread and lie in it
  • can't lie
  • cry wolf
  • devil lies in the details

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

Entails

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.