laid

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of lay.

   The workers laid new tiles across the kitchen floor.

   By noon they had laid the foundation for the new house.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty: she laid the tiles, and they had laid the tiles. Whatever the meaning, this verb wants an object. A hen lays eggs, planners lay plans, gamblers lay bets, masons lay bricks. An archaic use meant making something subside, as when a wind was laid. If nothing is being placed, the speaker probably means the colloquial past of lie.

2. 2
   verbcolloquial

   Simple past and past participle of lie. Colloquial and nonstandard; standard English uses lay (past) and lain (past participle).

   The dog laid in the sun all afternoon.

   She laid awake for hours thinking about the trip.

   Note

   Here laid stands in for lie's own forms, and careful writing keeps them apart: the dog lay in the sun, and she had lain awake. The slip comes from the past of lay, which always takes an object. Lie never does. A quick test is to ask what was laid. If nothing was, choose lay or lain. The merged form is common in speech, but it is best kept out of formal prose.

3. 3
   adjective

   Marked with fine parallel lines, as if ribbed, left by the closely spaced wires in the papermaking mold.

   The printer chose laid paper for its textured, ribbed appearance.

   Held to the light, the laid stock revealed its characteristic parallel lines.

   Note

   A papermaker's and printer's word, used almost only before paper or stock: laid paper, laid stock. It does not take degrees. A sheet is laid or it is not, and nothing is ever more laid than another. The word names a texture you notice best when the sheet is held up to the light.

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