lay

present singular third person lays · participle present laying · participle past laid · past laid · first person past singular laid · archaic present second person singular layest · past second person singular laid · archaic past second person singular laidst · archaic past second person singular laidest · present singular third person lays · archaic present singular third person layeth · past singular third person laid · past plural laid · past subjunctive laid · participle present laying · participle past laid

1. transitiveTo place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

   A shower of rain lays the dust.

   5 more examples

   to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave

   A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 6:17

   Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.

   1735, author unknown, The New-England Primer; as reported by Fred R. Shapiro, The Yale Book of Quotations, Yale University Press, 2006, pages 549–550

   He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2

   An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.

   1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN

2. archaictransitiveTo cause to subside or abate.

   But how upon the winds being laid, doth the ship cease to move?

   1662, Sir Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems, Dialogue 2

   3 more examples

   The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd, they fiercely then begin to shoure […]

   1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, book II, canto viii, verse xlviii

   He faced the spectres of the mind And laid them: thus he came at length To find a stronger faith his own; And Power was with him in the night, Which makes the darkness and the light, And dwells not in the light alone, But in the darkness and the cloud

   1849, Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H., canto XCVI

   Tessie lay among the cushions, her face a gray blot in the gloom, but her hands were clasped in mine and I knew that she knew and read my thoughts as I read hers, for we had understood the mystery of the Hyades and the Phantom of Truth was laid.

   1895, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “The Yellow Sign”, in The King in Yellow

   Synonyms: becalm, settle down

3. transitiveTo compel a supernatural entity to cease haunting a place, often by ritual or prayer; to exorcise or banish (a spirit or ghost).

   1 more example

   They were resolved to banish him if they could, and the spirit, who seemed to have an inkling of their design, was often heard singing in a melancholy tone: Wae's me! wae's me! The acorn is not yet Fallen from the tree, That's to grow the wood, That's to make the cradle, That's to rock the bairn, That's to grow to a man, That's to lay me.

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 296

4. transitiveTo prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

   Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.

   2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador, published 2007, page 48

5. transitiveTo install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

   lay brick; lay flooring

6. transitiveTo produce and deposit (an egg or eggs).

   The hen laid an egg.

   1 more example

   Did dinosaurs lay their eggs in a nest?

7. transitiveTo bet (that something is or is not the case).

   I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.

8. transitiveTo deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.

   I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.

   c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

   1 more example

   He laid a hundred guineas with the laird of Slofferfield that he would drive four horses through the Slofferfield loch, and in the prank he had his bit chariot dung to pieces and a good mare killed.

   1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

9. slangtransitiveTo have sex with.

   to get laid

   1 more example

   'It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.'

   1944, Raymond Chandler, The Lady in the Lake, Penguin, published 2011, page 11

   Synonyms: lie by, lie with, sleep with, Formal terms, bed, coit, coitize, dight

10. transitivelawTo state; to allege.

    to lay the venue

11. transitivegovernmentTo point; to aim.

    to lay a gun

12. transitiveartsTo put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.

    to lay a cable or rope

13. transitivemediaTo place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
14. transitivemediaTo place (new type) properly in the cases.
15. transitiveTo apply; to put.

    The news article laid emphasis on the unusually young age of the criminals.

    1 more example

    She layeth her hands to the spindle.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 31:19

16. transitiveTo impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).

    to lay a tax on land

    1 more example

    The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 53:6

17. transitiveTo impute; to charge; to allege.

    Lay the fault on us.

    c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

    1 more example

    God layeth not folly to them.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 24:12

    Synonyms: ascribe, attribute, accredit, ascribe, attach, attribute, chalk up to, charge

18. transitiveTo present or offer.

    to lay an indictment in a particular county

    1 more example

    I have laid the facts of the matter before you.

19. intransitiveTo produce and deposit an egg or eggs.

    I never kill a pullet but keep to lay the next year.

    1901 May 24, Mrs. G. A. Gibbons (Journal of Agriculture), “Poultry and Bees: How to Make Chickens Pay”, in Edwards’ Fruit Grower & Farmer, volume XI, number 2, Missoula, Minn., →OCLC, page [7], column 1

    4 more examples

    It [the Houdan breed] bears confinement well, can be kept on any soil, is very hardy, lays well, its flesh is all that can be desired, and it is a nonsitter.

    1883, Stephen Beale [pseudonym; Edward Brown], “French”, in Profitable Poultry Keeping, London; New York, N.Y.: George Routledge and Sons, […], →OCLC, chapter X (The Breeds of Poultry), page 94

    Eine ausgewachsene Legehenne hat einen Zwischenraum zwischen den Beinen, in den man gut drei Finger legen kann. Ein geringerer Abstand läßt darauf schließen, daß die Henne nicht mehr oder – bei Junghennen – nochnicht legt.

    1988 [1986], Alice Stern, translated by David Kennard, “Judging a Hen”, in Poultry and Poultry-Keeping, London: Merehurst Press, →ISBN, “Chickens” section, page 39, column 1

    While the hen is laying, the birds require complete peace and quiet and should on no account be disturbed. When the hen leaves the nest, one can gently remove the egg and replace it with a dummy egg.

    1990, Maja Müller-Bierl, “Canary Reproduction”, in Canaries As a New Pet (As a New Pet), Neptune City, N.J.: T.F.H. Publications, →ISBN, page 53, column 1

    In legal commentary a laying hen (cerc céin dothas) is valued at two bushels of grain, whereas a sexually active cock (cailech céin íunas) has only the value of one bushel. When a hen no longer lays and a cock is no longer capable of sexual activity, their value is reduced to half a bushel, as they are fit only for the cooking-pot.

    1997, Fergus Kelly, “Hens”, in Early Irish Farming: A Study Based Mainly on the Law-Texts of the 7th and 8th Centuries ad […] (Early Irish Law Series; 4), Dublin: School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, published 2000, →ISBN, →ISSN, chapter 3 (Livestock), page 102

20. intransitiveTo subside or abate.

    ... the wind laid, and several hours afterward, two half frozen men staggered into the camp.

    2023 October 26, M. M. Oblinger, Dick Kent with the Eskimos: Icy Adventures with Eskimo Tribes: A Tale of Arctic Exploration and Cultural Discovery, Good Press

    2 more examples

    I believe the wind is laying and perhaps we will not have a snow. If it turns cold without snow, we can have the hog killed.

    1943, Amanda McDowell, Fiddles in the Cumberlands

    ... the wind laid and Nature seemed to have recovered her good humor. The landscape smiled again, and we drove about a bit to see what the storm had done.

    2010 June 28, Roy Bedichek, Karánkaway Country, University of Texas Press, →ISBN, page 61

21. intransitivenauticalTo take a position; to come or go.

    to lay forward; to lay aloft

    1 more example

    If ever there was a perfect beauty afloat, she is one; and there she lays at Spithead, and anybody in England would take her for an eight-and-twenty. I was upon the platform two hours this afternoon, looking at her. She lays just astern of the Endymion, with the Cleopatra to larboard.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 151

22. intransitiveproscribedTo lie: to rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

    I found him laying on the floor.

    2 more examples

    Lay, lady, lay. / Lay across my big brass bed.

    1969 July, Bob Dylan, “Lay Lady Lay”, in Nashville Skyline, Columbia

    Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.

    1974, John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again, RCA

plural lays

1. countableuncountableArrangement or relationship; layout.

   the lay of the land

   1 more example

   He spoke of a flower or tree in each of the fifteen poems. A simple shape, a color, the design of a hedge, the lay of a limb inspired him in these songs to and about his loves.

   1977 August 20, Jim Marko, “Building A Gay Culture—An Evening of Poetry and Theatre”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 16

2. countableuncountableA share of the profits in a business.

   While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.

   1 more example

   I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays, and that these lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 16”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC

3. countableuncountableThe direction a rope is twisted.

   Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.

4. colloquialcountableuncountableA casual sexual partner.

   What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?

   3 more examples

   Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay.

   1996, JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts, MIRA, published 1996, →ISBN, page 166

   To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay, Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.

   2000, R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake, MIRA, published 2000, →ISBN, page 288

   “Because I don't want William to be just another lay. I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago. […]

   2011, Kelly Meding, Trance, Pocket Books, →ISBN, pages 205–206

5. colloquialcountableuncountableAn act of sexual intercourse.

   Does his make-up in his room Douse himself with cheap perfume Eyeholes in a paper bag Greatest lay I ever had

   1996, Placebo, “Nancy Boy”

   3 more examples

   Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay.”

   1993, David Halberstam, The Fifties, Open Road Integrated Media, published 2012, →ISBN

   […] She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay, you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully.

   2009, Fern Michaels, The Scoop, Kensington Books, →ISBN, pages 212–213

   “What she needs is a good lay. If she had someone to rock her world on a regular basis, she wouldn't be such a raging bit—”

   2011, Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make, Kimani Press, published 2011, →ISBN

6. archaiccountableslanguncountableA place or activity where someone spends a significant portion of their time.

   I shall be on that lay nae mair

   1818 July 25, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC

   2 more examples

   Since our people have moved this boy on, and he's not to be found on his old lay

   1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC

   "Well, you see, son," Kitcell had explained to Wilbur, "os-ten-siblee we are after shark-liver oil— and so we are; but also we are on any lay that turns up; ready for any game, from wrecking to barratry.

   1899, Frank Norris, Blix. Moran of the Lady Letty. Essays on authorship, page 155

7. countableuncountableThe laying of eggs.

   The hens are off the lay at present.

8. countableobsoleteuncountableA layer.

   1766, Thomas Amory, The Life of John Buncle, Esq., London: J. Johnson and B. Davenport, Volume 2, Section 1, p. 16, footnote 1, […] in one particular it exceeds the fen birds, for it has two tastes; it being brown and white meat: under a lay of brown is a lay of white meat […]

   3 more examples

   […] lay in the bottom of an earthen pot some dried vine leaves, and so make a lay of Pears, and leaves till the pot is filled up, laying betwixt each lay some sliced Ginger […]

   1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, page 5

   […] the whole Body of the Church is chequer’d with different Lays of White and Black Marble […]

   1718, Joseph Addison, “Sienna, Leghorne, Pisa”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: J. Tonson, page 300

   […] when we examine the Scarf-Skin with a Microscope, it appears to be made up of several Lays of exceeding small Scales, which cover one another more or less […]

   1724, Thomas Spooner, chapter 2, in A Compendious Treatise of the Diseases of the Skin, London, page 20

9. countableobsoleteuncountableA basis or ground.

   On this lay or ground we should also add the finishing colours.

   1835, Richard architetto Brown, The Principles of Practical Perspective, page 122

   1 more example

   In the first MacColl patent the pattern chain and engaging rod were carried on the swinging lay on which the needle bars are mounted.

   1899, “MacColl v. Crompton Loom works”, in The Federal Reporter, volume 95, page 990

10. countableobsoleteuncountablethieves' cantA pursuit or practice; a dodge.

    Because I've finished, missus. Finished with the thieving lay now and forever.

    1975, H. R. F. Keating, A Remarkable Case of Burglary

    2 more examples

    FIDLAM BENS. Thieves who have no particular lay, whose every finger is a fish-hook; fellows that will steal any thing they can remove.

    1859, George Washington Matsell, Vocabulum: Or, The Rogue's Lexicon. Comp. from the Most Authentic Sources, page 31

    "It isn't an exchange lay, at all events," said Mr Carlyle. "His inner case is only half the size of the other and couldn't possibly be substituted."

    1914, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados

plural lays

1. A lake.

comparative more lay · superlative most lay

1. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

   a lay preacher; a lay brother

   1 more example

   They seemed more lay than clerical.

   Synonyms: laical

2. attributiveNon-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

   It is true that in adopting the short view many of the younger economists have not merely taken over the lay notions bodily.

   1958, Jacob Viner, The Long View and the Short, page 112

   2 more examples

   He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. […] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four.

   1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII

   In what could become a model program for courses across the U.S., this state's gay health consultant has begun training bartenders and bar owners as lay health educators.

   1985 February 2, John Zeh, “Sex Ed In Bars”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 28, page 16

3. card gamesNot trumps.

   a lay suit

4. obsoleteNot educated or cultivated; ignorant.

1. pastsimple past of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)

   The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.

   1 more example

   But unlike many other tunnels that lay idle and decaying, Catesby has now found a new use as an aerodynamic wind tunnel for the motor industry.

   2023 November 29, Peter Plisner, “The winds of change in Catesby Tunnel”, in RAIL, number 997, page 56

plural lays · alternative lai

1. A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.

   1925 The Lay of Leithien, poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, Anglo-Saxon Professor.

   2 more examples

   I strive, with wakeful melody, to cheer The sullen gloom, sweet Philomel! like thee, And call the stars to listen: every star Is deaf to mine, enamour'd of thy lay.

   1742, Edward Young, The Complaint: or Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality, Night I

   If these brief lays, of Sorrow born, ⁠Were taken to be such as closed ⁠Grave doubts and answers here proposed, Then these were such as men might scorn: […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 70

2. A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.

   1945: "The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun" by JRR Tolkien Sad is the note and sad the lay, but mirth we meet not every day.

plural lays

1. obsoleteA meadow; a lea.

   Having destroyed all old lays, I have no other hay than clover.

   1808, John Curwen, Hints on the Economy of Feeding Stock and Bettering the Condition of the Poor

plural lays

1. obsoleteA law.

   A woman worthy of immortall prayse, / Which for this Realme found many goodly layes

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 42

2. obsoleteAn obligation; a vow.

   they bound themselues by a sacred lay and oth to fight it out to the last man

   1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC

present singular third person lays · participle present laying · participle past laid · past laid

1. JudaismtransitiveTo don or put on (tefillin (phylacteries)).

1. A river in western France.
2. A surname.