lay

lay¹ W2S1 [leı] v

the past tense of ↑lie ¹

lay ²

lay² v past tense and past participle laid [leıd]

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1¦(put somebody/something down)¦

2 lay bricks/carpet/concrete/cables etc

3¦(bird/insect etc)¦

4¦(table)¦

5 lay the foundations/groundwork/base

6¦(give information)¦

7 lay emphasis/stress on something

8 lay a hand/finger on somebody

9 lay bare/open something

10 lay somebody/something open to something

11 lay waste something

12 lay plans/a trap etc

13 lay claim to (doing) something

14 lay siege to somebody/something

15¦(have sex)¦

16¦(lie)¦

17¦(risk money)¦

18 lay somebody/something on the line

19 lay something at the door of somebody/something

20 lay somebody low

21 lay somebody to rest

22 lay the ghost (of something)

Phrasal verbs

　lay about somebody

　lay something<=>aside

　lay something<=>down

　lay something<=>in

　lay into somebody/something

　lay off

　lay something on

　lay somebody/something<=>out

　lay over

　lay up

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1.) ¦(PUT SOMEBODY/SOMETHING DOWN)¦ [T always + adverb/preposition]

to put someone or something down carefully into a flat position

= ↑place

▪ He laid his hand on my shoulder.

▪ They laid a wreath at the place where so many people died.

▪ Lay the material flat on the table.

2.) lay bricks/carpet/concrete/cables etc

to put or fasten bricks, a ↑carpet etc in the correct place, especially on the ground or floor

▪ The carpet was laid last week.

▪ The project involved laying an oil pipeline across the desert.

3.) ¦(BIRD/INSECT ETC)¦ [I and T]

if a bird, insect etc lays eggs, it produces them from its body

▪ The flies lay their eggs on decaying meat.

▪ A cuckoo is able to lay in a range of different nests.

4.) ¦(TABLE)¦ [T]

BrE to put the cloth, plates, knives, forks etc on a table, ready for a meal

= ↑set

▪ John was laying the table .

▪ As she spoke, she was laying him a place at the table.

5.) lay the foundations/groundwork/base

to provide the conditions that will make it possible for something to happen or be successful

lay the foundations/groundwork/base for

▪ Mandela helped lay the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.

▪ It was an invention which laid the foundations of modern radio technology.

6.) ¦(GIVE INFORMATION)¦ [T] formal

to make a statement, give information etc in an official or public way

= ↑put

▪ Several proposals have been laid before the committee.

7.) lay emphasis/stress on sth

formal to emphasize something because you believe it is very important

▪ a political philosophy that lays great stress on individual responsibility

8.) lay a hand/finger on sb [usually in negatives]

to touch someone with the intention of hurting them

▪ I swear I didn't lay a finger on him.

▪ If you lay one hand on me, I'll scream.

9.) lay bare/open sth also lay sth bare/open

a) to show what something is really like, or stop hiding facts, feelings etc

▪ Every aspect of their private life has been laid bare.

b) to remove the thing that is covering or hiding something else

▪ When the tide goes out, vast stretches of sand are laid bare.

10.) lay sb/sth open to sth

to do something that makes it possible for other people to blame you, criticize you etc

lay yourself open to sth

▪ By doing that, he laid himself open to ridicule.

▪ Not to have taken action would have laid the department open to charges of negligence.

11.) lay waste sth also lay waste to sth

formal to destroy or damage something, especially in a war

▪ The island was laid waste and abandoned.

▪ an attack which laid waste to hundreds of villages

12.) lay plans/a trap etc

to carefully prepare all the details of something

▪ We are laying plans now in order to be successful in the future.

the best-laid plans

(=plans that have been made carefully)

▪ Bad weather can upset even the best-laid travel plans.

13.) lay claim to (doing) sth

to say that something belongs to you or say that you deserve something

▪ The town can lay claim to having the oldest theatre in Britain.

▪ No one has laid claim to the property.

14.) lay siege to sb/sth

a) if a group of people lay siege to a place, they try to get control by surrounding it

▪ The armies laid siege to Vienna in 1529.

b) to do everything you can to get someone to talk to you or notice you

▪ A group of young men were always at the stage door, trying to lay siege to the girls.

15.) ¦(HAVE SEX)¦

get laid [T] informal

to have sex with someone

▪ All he wants to do is go out and get laid .

16.) ¦(LIE)¦

[i]spoken to be in a position in which you are flat - some people consider this use to be incorrect

= ↑lie

17.) ¦(RISK MONEY)¦ [T]

especially BrE to risk an amount of money on the result of a race, sports game etc

= ↑bet lay sth on sth

▪ She laid £50 on the favourite, Golden Boy.

lay money (that)

▪ I'd lay money that he will go on to play for England.

18.) lay sb/sth on the line

a) to state something, especially a threat, demand, or criticism, in a very clear way

▪ Lay it on the line and tell them what's really been happening.

b) also put sb/sth on the line

to risk losing your life, your job etc, especially in order to help someone

▪ I've laid myself on the line for him once already.

19.) lay sth at the door of sb/sth also lay sth at sb's door

to blame something or someone for something

▪ The continued divisions within the party cannot be laid entirely at his door.

▪ Many illnesses are being laid at the door of stress.

20.) lay sb low

a) [usually passive]

if an illness lays someone low, they are unable to do their normal activities for a period of time

lay somebody low with

▪ She's been laid low with flu for a week.

b) literary to make someone fall down, or injure them seriously

21.) lay sb to rest

formal to bury someone after they have died

▪ She was laid to rest beside her husband.

→lay/put sth to rest at ↑rest¹ (10)

22.) lay the ghost (of sth)

to finally stop being worried or upset by something from the past

→lay your hands on sth at ↑hand¹ (18)

→lay the blame on sb/sth at ↑blame²

→put/lay your cards on the table at ↑card¹ (13)

lay about [lay about sb] phr v

to attack someone violently

= ↑set about lay about somebody with

▪ He laid about his attackers with a stick.

lay aside [lay sth<=>aside] phr v

1.) to stop using something and put it down, especially so you can do something else

= ↑put aside

▪ Richard had laid aside his book to watch what was happening.

2.) to stop behaving in a particular way, or stop having particular feelings, especially so you can achieve something

= ↑put aside

▪ On the day of the wedding, all arguments between the families were laid aside.

▪ As a doctor, you often need to lay aside your personal feelings.

3.) also lay sth<=>by

to keep something, especially money, so you can use it in the future

= ↑put by

▪ She'd laid aside a few pounds each week from her wages.

lay down [lay sth<=>down] phr v

1.) ¦(OFFICIALLY STATE)¦

to officially state something or say that rules, principles etc must be obeyed

▪ He had already clearly laid down his view in his opening speech.

lay down that

▪ The contract laid down that the work must be completed before 2025.

2.) ¦(WEAPONS)¦

if people lay down their weapons, they stop fighting

▪ The terrorists were urged to lay down their arms .

3.) lay down the law

to tell other people what to do, how they should think etc, in a very strong or impolite way

▪ I could hear him laying down the law.

4.) lay down your life

formal to die in order to help other people

lay down your life for

▪ He was even prepared to lay down his life for his friends.

5.) ¦(KEEP)¦

to store something, especially wine, to use in the future

lay in [lay sth<=>in] phr v

to get and store a supply of something to use in the future

▪ He likes to lay in a few special drinks for the festive season.

lay into / [lay into sb/sth] phr v

to attack or criticize someone or something

▪ Outside the club, two men were laying into each other.

lay off phr v

1.) lay sb<=>off

to stop employing someone because there is no work for them to do

→↑layoff

▪ The company laid off 250 workers in December.

▪ Millions of people have been laid off in the steel industry.

2.) lay off (sth) informal to stop using or doing something

▪ I think you'd better lay off alcohol for a while.

lay off doing sth

▪ I had to lay off running for several months.

3.) lay off (sb) informal to stop annoying someone or hurting them

▪ Just lay off, will you!

▪ I wish he'd lay off me!

4.) lay sth<=>off

to pass the ball to someone in your team in a game such as football - used in sports reports

lay sth off to sb

▪ Murphy has the ball and then lays it off to Owen.

lay on [lay sth on] phr v

1.) lay sth<=>on

especially BrE to provide something such as food, entertainment, or transport for a group of people

▪ They laid on a buffet for his farewell party.

▪ A bus has been laid on to take you home.

2.) lay sth on sb

to ask someone to do something, especially something that is difficult or something they will not want to do

▪ Sorry to lay this on you, but we need someone to give a talk at the conference next week.

3.) lay it on (thick) informal

a) to praise someone or something too much, especially in order to get what you want

b) to talk about something in a way that makes it seem more important, serious etc than it really is

= ↑exaggerate

lay out [lay sb/sth<=>out] phr v

1.) ¦(SPREAD)¦

to spread something out

▪ Lay out the map on the table and let's have a look.

2.) ¦(ARRANGE)¦

to arrange or plan a building, town, garden etc

= ↑set out

▪ The garden is laid out in a formal pattern.

3.) ¦(EXPLAIN)¦

to describe or explain something clearly

= ↑set out

▪ The financial considerations are laid out in a booklet called 'How to Borrow Money'.

4.) ¦(SPEND)¦ informal

to spend money, especially a lot of money

→↑outlay lay out sth on sth

▪ What's the point in laying out money on something you'll only wear once?

5.) ¦(HIT)¦ informal

to hit someone so hard that they fall down and become unconscious

▪ One of the guards had been laid out and the other was missing.

6.) ¦(BODY)¦

to prepare a dead body so that it can be buried

lay over phr v

to stay somewhere for a short time before continuing your trip

→↑layover

lay up phr v

1.) be laid up (with sth)

to have to stay in bed because you are ill or injured

▪ I was laid up for a week with flu.

2.) to stop using a boat or vehicle, especially while it is being repaired

lay sth<=>up

▪ Most of the yachts were laid up for the winter.

3.) lay sth<=>up

old-fashioned to collect and store something to use in the future

▪ We started laying up firewood for the winter.

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WORD CHOICE:lay, lie

The verb lay must have an object. It is a slightly literary way to say 'put something somewhere' : She lays a silk cloth over the table .

The verb lie does not have an object. It means 'be or get into a horizontal position somewhere' : Let's lie on the grass. | Lie down here for a while.

!! lay is also the past tense of lie : I lay on the couch and tried to relax. The past tense of lay is laid : He laid his hand on my shoulder.

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lay ³

lay³ adj [only before noun]

[Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: lai, from Late Latin laicus, from Greek laikos 'of the people', from laos 'people']

a) not trained or not knowing much about a particular profession or subject

→↑layman

▪ lay witnesses

b) not in an official position in the church

▪ a lay preacher

lay ⁴

lay⁴ n

[Sense: 1-3; Date: 1800-1900; Origin: LAY¹]

[Sense: 4; Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: lai]

1.) the lay of the land

a) the situation that exists at a particular time

▪ Get the lay of the land before you make any decisions.

b) the appearance of an area of land, for example the way it slopes

2.) the lay of sth

the appearance of something and where each part of it is

▪ Mr. Lowe will give you the lay of the camp and tell you what we're going to be doing.

3.) be a good/quick/easy etc lay informal

to be a good, quick etc person to have sex with

4.) literary a poem or song