lay up

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

1. transitiveTo store; to put by.

   We must lay up enough stores to get us through the winter.

   1 more example

   I employed myself in making, as well as I could, a great many baskets, both to carry earth or to carry or lay up anything, as I had occasion; and though I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I made them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose[…]

   1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC

2. transitiveTo disable or incapacitate; to confine to bed.

   He was laid up for six weeks with pneumonia.

3. intransitiveTo recuperate or rest; to remain in a place.

   She's been laid up in Reno for weeks.

   1 more example

   He laid up until recovering from his illness.

4. transitiveTo take out of active service.

   The battleship is presently laid up in Portsmouth Harbour.

   1 more example

   So in February, it was decided to lay up a good portion of the fleet, whose operational costs were astronomical, whilst they attempted to conduct peace negotiations, whilst simultaneously secretly trying to swing France over to the British side. But the Dutch, de Witt especially, were quite aware that Charles II was largely stalling for time, although they didn't quite know why, and determined to end the war, on their terms, in a single strike.

   2019 April 24, Drachinifel, 7:23 from the start, in The Raid on the Medway - Grand Theft Warship, archived from the original on 26 Dec 2020

5. intransitiveTo go out of active service.

   The cruise ship lays up in November for the winter.

   1 more example

   The Cinderella of the present trio is the Freshwater, which is laid up in the winter months, when one or other of her ugly sisters is sufficient to cope with the service.

   1956 February, R. C. Riley, “The Lymington Railway and Isle of Wight Ferry”, in Railway Magazine, page 82

6. transitiveball gamesTo make a layup with (a basketball)

   He takes the pass, he drives, he lays it up and in.

7. intransitivegolfTo deliberately leave the ball further than necessary from the hole, so as to secure an easier succeeding shot.

   Rather than try to reach the green, he chose to lay up.

8. USslangTo have sex; to have a sexual relationship.