belay

present singular third person belays · participle present belaying · participle past belayed · past belayed · participle past belaid · past belaid

1. ambitransitivenauticalTo make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
2. transitiveclimbingTo handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.

   I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall.

   1 more example

   He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.

3. transitiveTo lay aside; to stop; to cancel.

   Belay that order!

   1 more example

   "We landed in their killbox?" "We did. I am sor... No, belay that. Heads down! Cavalry incoming!"

   2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary, archived from the original on 14 May 2024

4. intransitivenauticalThe general command to stop or cease.
5. obsoletetransitiveTo surround; to environ; to enclose.
6. obsoletetransitiveTo overlay; to adorn.

   jacket […] belayd with silver lace

   1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5

7. obsoletetransitiveTo besiege; invest; surround.
8. obsoletetransitiveTo lie in wait for in order to attack; block up or obstruct.

plural belays

1. climbingThe securing of a rope to a rock or other sturdy object.
2. climbingThe object to which a rope is secured.
3. climbingA location at which a climber stops and builds an anchor with which to secure their partner.

   But instead of swapping over at the ice axe belay, you carry on in the lead, cutting or kicking steps until you are about twenty feet above.

   1967, Anthony Greenbank, Instructions in Mountaineering, page 84

1. pastsimple past of belie (“encompass”)

plural Belays

1. A surname.