# lay

Pronunciation: say "LAY" /leɪ/

## Verb

1. To put something down, especially carefully, so that it rests on a surface or lies flat, or to place it over or onto something else.
   - Simple: To put something down carefully, often so it lies flat on something.
   - _Lay the documents on the table before the meeting starts._
   - _She laid the tired child gently on the bed._
2. To prepare a plan or project, or to set out and establish a law or principle.
   - Simple: To get a plan or idea ready, or to set up a rule.
   - _The committee will lay the groundwork for reform this session._
   - _The treaty laid the foundations for a lasting peace between the two countries._
3. Past tense of lie. — simple past of lie (“to be oriented in a horizontal position, situated”)
   - Simple: Past tense of lie. Use this form when talking about resting flat in the past.
   - _The valley lay silent beneath the morning fog._
   - _She lay awake long after midnight._
4. Of a hen or other animal, to bring forth an egg or eggs and deposit them.
   - Simple: To produce an egg and release it from the body.
   - _Most hens lay an egg nearly every day during the summer._
   - _The salmon laid thousands of eggs in the gravel bed._
5. To recline or rest flat on something; to lie. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To rest flat on a surface, such as a bed or the ground.
   - _After lunch he likes to lay on the couch and nap._
   - _Just lay still until the dizziness passes._
6. To put building materials such as bricks, pipes, cables, flooring or paving in position, or to build something in this way.
   - Simple: To put building materials like bricks, pipes or carpet in their place.
   - _The crew will lay the foundation before winter arrives._
   - _Builders laid the pipes beneath the road last month._
7. To present or offer something for consideration.
   - Simple: To put facts or ideas in front of someone to look at.
   - _The lawyers will lay their argument before the judge tomorrow._
   - _He laid his proposal before the board for approval._
8. To make something ready by arranging its parts, as when setting a table for a meal, building a fire to be lit, or setting a trap.
   - Simple: To get something ready to use, like a table for a meal, a fire, or a trap.
   - _Hunters lay traps along the riverbank where the animals come to drink._
   - _The caretaker had laid a fire in every hearth before the family returned._
10. To attribute fault or responsibility to someone; to charge or allege.
   - Simple: To say that someone is responsible for something bad.
   - _Critics laid the failure squarely on the manager._
   - _They lay the blame for the loss on poor planning._
13. To impose a burden, punishment, command, or tax on someone.
   - Simple: To put a duty, tax, or punishment on someone.
   - _Lawmakers lay duties on imported goods to protect local industry._
   - _The new rules lay a heavy burden on small businesses._
11. To have sexual intercourse with someone. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To have sex with someone.
   - _He was determined to lay her before the weekend was over._
   - _Word got around that he had laid several coworkers._
15. To bet money or something of value on an outcome, or to bet that something is or is not the case.
   - Simple: To bet money on something, or bet that something will happen.
   - _She laid fifty dollars on the favorite to win the race._
   - _Reckless gamblers often lay more than they can afford to lose._
19. To stop a ghost or spirit from haunting a place; figuratively, to put a painful memory or earlier failure behind one at last.
   - Simple: To make a ghost stop haunting a place, or to finally get over a bad memory or past failure.
   - _Local legend says the abbot laid the restless spirit with prayers and holy water._
   - _The team hopes a win on Saturday will finally lay the ghost of that semifinal collapse._
20. To place something abstract, such as emphasis, stress or importance, on a particular point or thing.
   - Simple: To put something like importance or extra attention on one particular thing.
   - _The report lays particular emphasis on the needs of rural patients._
   - _Many parents lay too much stress on grades and too little on curiosity._

## Adjective

9. Belonging to a church or other religious community but not ordained as one of its clergy or monastics.
   - Simple: Part of a church or other religion but not a priest, minister or ordained monk or nun.
   - _The diocese trained several lay ministers to assist the priest._
   - _A lay brother managed the monastery's accounts for decades._
12. Not professional; not belonging to a particular profession or organized group.
   - Simple: Not trained as an expert in a subject.
   - _A lay audience may struggle with the technical jargon in the talk._
   - _He offered only a lay opinion, not an expert judgment._

## Noun

14. A person regarded only as a sexual partner, often rated by how good they are in bed, or an act of sex. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Slang for a person seen only as a sex partner, or for an act of sex.
   - _She told her friends he was a terrible lay._
   - _She wanted a serious partner, not another casual lay._
16. The arrangement, position, or relationship of parts; the overall layout of something.
   - Simple: The way that something is arranged, positioned, or laid out.
   - _The general surveyed the lay of the terrain before advancing._
   - _Surveyors mapped the lay of the coastline in fine detail._
17. A short narrative or lyrical poem, often meant to be sung, such as the medieval lays of adventure and romance written in octosyllabic couplets.
   - Simple: A short poem or song, often one that tells a story, like those sung in the Middle Ages.
   - _The harper performed a mournful lay for the fallen king._
   - _The collection closes with a short medieval lay about a lost ring and a faithful wife._
18. The production of eggs, especially considered as an output over a period.
   - Simple: The producing of eggs by birds and other animals.
   - _The flock's lay dropped sharply during the heat wave._
   - _Good nutrition improves a hen's lay throughout the winter._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To state or allege something formally, as in legal pleadings.
- (noun) A share of the profits of a venture, given in place of fixed wages.
- (noun) The direction in which the strands of a rope are twisted.
- (verb) To arrange and twist the strands of a rope or cable together to form it.
- (verb) To point or aim a piece of artillery at a target.
- (verb) To move to or take up a specified position, especially aboard a ship.
- (adjective) Of a card or suit, not being trumps.
- (verb) To put on tefillin, the small leather boxes bound to the arm and head for Jewish prayer.
- (verb) To make something calm down or die away, as when rain settles dust or a storm is quieted.
- (verb) In printing, to position pages correctly on the imposing stone so they make up a form.
- (verb) In printing, to put new type into its proper compartments in the type cases.
- (verb) Of wind, waves or feeling, to die down or grow calm.
- (noun) A place or occupation that takes up much of someone's time, such as a regular haunt or line of work.
- (noun) A single thickness of material lying over another, a stratum.
- (noun) A foundation or footing on which something rests.
- (noun) A line of activity or scheme, especially a trick or racket for making money.
- (noun) An inland body of standing water surrounded by land.
- (adjective) Lacking schooling or refinement, and so uninformed.
- (noun) A grassy field used for pasture or hay.
- (noun) A rule or body of law, especially a religious one.
- (noun) A binding duty or solemn promise.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4–8, 10–11, 13–16, 18–20** — Old English leċġan ("to lay") was passed down into Middle English as leyen or leggen. Through Proto-Germanic *lagjaną it goes back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to lie, recline". It is the causative of the verb for "to lie down", and Dutch leggen and German legen are related.
**Meanings 9, 12** — Laic is a doublet. Both words trace to Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós), which became Latin lāicus. Old French made it lai, Middle English borrowed it as lay, and modern English inherited that form.
**Meaning 3** — From Old English læġ, the past tense of licgan (to lie), so it belongs to the verb lie rather than to lay meaning put down.
**Meaning 17** — English inherited lay from Middle English lay, borrowed from Old French lai, meaning "song, lyric, poem". The French word probably came from Frankish *laih ("play, melody, song"), whose ancestry runs through Proto-Germanic *laikaz to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to jump, play".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lay (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).