lay open

verb

To publish a patent for initial public review, prior to the formal application for registration.

“to lay oneself open to criticism”

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Meanings

verblay open (third-person singular simple present lays open, present participle laying open, simple past and past participle laid open)

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

  1. JapanSouth Koreaintellectual propertyTo publish a patent for initial public review, prior to the formal application for registration.
  2. transitiveTo expose or reveal (something).

    to lay oneself open to criticism

    1 more example

    The power of turning into an animal has this serious disadvantage that it lays you open to the chance of being wounded or even slain in your animal skin before you have the chance to put it off and scramble back into your human integument.

    1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 11, page 207
  3. transitiveTo open (something) through cutting or scissoring.

Translations

German offenlegen
  • offenlegenEast Asian patent publication
Japanese 公開する
  • 公開する (kōkaisuru)East Asian patent publication
Korean 공개하다
  • 공개하다 (gonggaehada)East Asian patent publication
Cite this entry
APA

lay open. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lay%20open

MLA

“lay open.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lay%20open. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lay open,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lay%20open.

Source: lay open on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.