Lay

[leɪ] or [le]

Definition

(verb.) put in a horizontal position; 'lay the books on the table'; 'lay the patient carefully onto the bed'.

(verb.) lay eggs; 'This hen doesn't lay'.

(verb.) prepare or position for action or operation; 'lay a fire'; 'lay the foundation for a new health care plan'.

(verb.) impose as a duty, burden, or punishment; 'lay a responsibility on someone'.

(adj.) not of or from a profession; 'a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease' .

Typed by Enid--From WordNet

Definition

(imp.) of Lie, to recline.

(a.) Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.

(a.) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

(a.) Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease.

(n.) The laity; the common people.

(n.) A meadow. See Lea.

(n.) Faith; creed; religious profession.

(n.) A law.

(n.) An obligation; a vow.

(a.) A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad.

(a.) A melody; any musical utterance.

(v. t.) To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower lays the dust.

(v. t.) To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table.

(v. t.) To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.

(v. t.) To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.

(v. t.) To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit.

(v. t.) To cause to lie dead or dying.

(v. t.) To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.

(v. t.) To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.

(v. t.) To apply; to put.

(v. t.) To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.

(v. t.) To impute; to charge; to allege.

(v. t.) To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one.

(v. t.) To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one.

(v. t.) To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.

(v. t.) To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.

(v. t.) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as, to lay a cable or rope.

(v. t.) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

(v. t.) To place (new type) properly in the cases.

(v. i.) To produce and deposit eggs.

(v. i.) To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft.

(v. i.) To lay a wager; to bet.

(n.) That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.

(v. t.) A wager.

(v. t.) A job, price, or profit.

(v. t.) A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise; as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay.

(v. t.) A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a).

(v. t.) The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.

(v. t.) A plan; a scheme.

(imp.) of Lie

Typist: Sonia

Synonyms and Synonymous

v. a. [1]. Put, place, lay down.[2]. Impose, assess.[3]. Impute, charge, ascribe.[4]. Spread (on a surface).[5]. Prepare, set in order, get ready.[6]. Contrive, scheme, devise.[7]. Allay, quiet, calm, still, appease.[8]. Bet, stake, wager, risk, hazard.[9]. Produce, bring forth and deposit (as eggs).[10]. (Naut.) Depress, sink, sail away from so as to lose sight of.[11]. (Law.) Allege, state, name.

n. [Rare.] [1]. Row, stratum, layer.[2]. Bet, wager, stake, pledge.[3]. [U. S.] Share of profit.[4]. Song.

a. Laic, laical.

Inputed by Clara

Synonyms and Antonyms

SYN:Place, establish, deposit, allay, prostrate, arrange, dispose, put, spread,set_down

ANT:Erect, raise, lift, excite, disarrange, disorder, scrape, abrade

Inputed by Jeff

Definition

n. a song: a lyric or narrative poem.

v.t. to cause to lie down: to place or set down: to beat down: to spread on a surface: to conjoin: to spread the proper thing on: to calm: to appease: to wager: to bring forth: to impose: to charge: to present.—v.i. to produce eggs: to wager bet:—pr.p. lay′ing; pa.t. and pa.p. laid.—n. situation: (Shak.) a bet: a share of profit esp. in whaling enterprises: (slang) a field or method of operations esp. of thieves: a measure in thread manufacture about 800 yards.—ns. Lay′er that which lays—e.g. a hen a bricklayer: a bed or stratum: a shoot laid for propagation; Lay′ering the propagation of plants by layers; Lay′ing the first coat of plaster: the act or time of laying eggs: the eggs laid; Lay′-out that which is laid out a spread for dining gaming &c.; Lay′-stall a place for laying dung rubbish &c.—Lay about one to deal blows vigorously or on all sides; Lay aside away to discard: to put apart for future use; Lay at to endeavour to strike; Lay bare to make bare disclose; Lay before to submit to as of plans; Lay by to keep for future use to dismiss to put off; Lay by the heels (see Heel); Lay down to give up: to deposit as a pledge: to apply as embroidery: to delineate describe: to affirm assert: (rare) to store for future use; Lay heads together to consult together to deliberate; Lay hold of or on to seize apprehend; Lay in to get in a supply of; Lay into to chastise thoroughly; Lay it on to charge exorbitantly to do anything with profuseness; Lay off to cast aside: to mark off; Lay on to apply with force to strike to act with vigour; Lay one's self out to to put forth one's best efforts for anything; Lay on load (Spens.) to belabour; Lay on the table (see Table); Lay open to make bare to show expose; Lay out to expand to display: to expend to plan to exert: to dress in grave-clothes: to take measures seek; Lay siege to to besiege: to importune; Lay the land to cause the land to disappear below the horizon by sailing away from it; Lay to to apply with vigour: to bring a ship to rest; Lay to heart (see Heart); Lay under to subject to; Lay up to store up preserve: to confine to one's bed or room for a time: to put a ship in dock after dismantling; Lay upon to wager upon; Lay wait to lie in wait or in ambush; Lay waste to devastate to destroy.—Laying on of hands (see Hand).—Laid embroidery gimped or raised embroidery.—On a lay on shares as when a crew is shipped 'on a lay' instead of receiving wages.

adjs. pertaining to the people: not clerical: unprofessional: (cards) not trumps.—v.t. Lā′icise to deprive of a clerical character.—ns. Lā′ity the people as distinguished from any particular profession esp. the clerical; Lay′-bap′tism baptism administered by a layman; Lay′-broth′er a layman: a man under vows of celibacy and obedience who serves a monastery but is exempt from the studies and religious services required of the monks; Lay′-commun′ion the state of being in the communion of the church as a layman; Lay′-imprō′priator an impropriator who is a layman (see Impropriator); Lay′-lord a civil lord of the Admiralty; Lay′man one of the laity: a non-professional man; Lay′-read′er in the Anglican Church a layman who receives authority to read the lessons or a part of the service and who may in certain cases preach or read the sermons of others.

Editor: Margie