lay

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

of Lie, to recline.

Origin: F. lai, L. laicus, Gr. … of or from the people, lay, from …, …, people. Cf. Laic.

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

2. Not educated or cultivated; ignorant. obsolete

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

Lay baptism Church, baptism administered by a lay person. Frederick George Lee — Lay brother Roman Catholic Church, one received into a convent of monks under the three vows, but not in holy orders. — Lay clerk Church, a layman who leads the responses of the congregation, etc., in the church service. Hook, Walter Farquhar — Lay days Commerce, time allowed in a charter party for taking in and discharging cargo. MkcElrath, Thomas — Lay elder. See 2d Elder, 3, note.

The laity; the common people. obsolete

The learned have no more privilege than the lay.— Ben Jonson

A meadow. See Lea. obsolete John Dryden

Origin: OF. lei faith, law, F. loi law. See Legal.

1. Faith; creed; religious profession. obsolete

Of the sect to which that he was born He kept his lay, to which that he was sworn.— Geoffrey Chaucer

2. A law. obsolete “Many goodly lays.” Edmund Spenser

3. An obligation; a vow. obsolete

They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.— Philemon Holland

Origin: OF. lai, lais, prob. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. laoi, laoidh, song, poem, OIr. laoidh poem, verse; but cf. also AS. lāc play, sport, G. leich a sort of poem (cf. Lake to sport). ….

1. A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad. Spenser. Sir W. Scott.

2. A melody; any musical utterance.

The throstle cock made eke his lay.— Geoffrey Chaucer

Origin: OE. leggen, AS. lecgan, causative, fr. licgan to lie; akin to D. leggen, G. legen, Icel. leggja, Goth. lagjan. See Lie to be prostrate.

1. 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.

A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.— Dan. vi. 17.

Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid.— John Milton

2. 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.

3. To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.

4. To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.

5. To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit.

After a tempest when the winds are laid.— Edmund Waller

6. To cause to lie dead or dying.

Brave Cæneus laid Ortygius on the plain, The victor Cæneus was by Turnus slain.— John Dryden

7. To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.

I dare lay mine honor He will remain so.— William Shakespeare

8. To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.

9. To apply; to put.

She layeth her hands to the spindle.— Prov. xxxi. 19.

10. To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.

The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.— Is. liii. 6.

11. To impute; to charge; to allege.

God layeth not folly to them.— Job xxiv. 12.

Lay the fault on us.— William Shakespeare

12. To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one.

13. To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one.

14. Law To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue. Bouvier, John

15. Military To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.

16. Rope Making 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.

17. Printing (a) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone. (b) To place (new type) properly in the cases.

To lay asleep, to put sleep; to make unobservant or careless. Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon — To lay bare, to make bare; to strip.

And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain.— George Noel Gordon, Ld. Byron

— To lay before, to present to; to submit for consideration; as, the papers are laid before Congress. — To lay by. (a) To save. (b) To discard.

Let brave spirits... not be laid by.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

— To lay by the heels, to put in the stocks. William Shakespeare — To lay down. (a) To stake as a wager. (b) To yield; to relinquish; to surrender; as, to lay down one's life; to lay down one's arms. (c) To assert or advance, as a proposition or principle. — To lay forth. (a) To extend at length; (reflexively) to exert one's self; to expatiate. obsolete (b) To lay out (as a corpse). obsolete William Shakespeare — To lay hands on, to seize. — To lay hands on one's self, or To lay violent hands on one's self, to injure one's self; specif., to commit suicide. — To lay heads together, to consult. — To lay hold of, or To lay hold on, to seize; to catch. — To lay in, to store; to provide. — To lay it on, to apply without stint. William Shakespeare — To lay it on thick, to flatter excessively. — To lay on, to apply with force; to inflict; as, to lay on blows. — To lay on load, to lay on blows; to strike violently. Obs. or Archaic — To lay one's self out, to strive earnestly.

No selfish man will be concerned to lay out himself for the good of his country.— George Smalridge

— To lay one's self open to, to expose one's self to, as to an accusation. — To lay open, to open; to uncover; to expose; to reveal. — To lay over, to spread over; to cover. — To lay out. (a) To expend. Thomas Babington Macaulay (b) To display; to discover. (c) To plan in detail; to arrange; as, to lay out a garden. (d) To prepare for burial; as, to lay out a corpse. (e) To exert; as, to lay out all one's strength. — To lay siege to. (a) To besiege; to encompass with an army. (b) To beset pertinaciously. — To lay the course Nautical, to sail toward the port intended without jibing. — To lay the land Nautical, to cause it to disappear below the horizon, by sailing away from it. — To lay to (a) To charge upon; to impute. (b) To apply with vigor. (c) To attack or harass. obsolete Richard Knolles (d) Nautical To check the motion of (a vessel) and cause it to be stationary. — To lay to heart, to feel deeply; to consider earnestly. — To lay under, to subject to; as, to lay under obligation or restraint. — To lay unto. (a) Same as To lay to (above). (b) To put before. Hos. xi. 4. — To lay up. (a) To store; to reposit for future use. (b) To confine; to disable. (c) To dismantle, and retire from active service, as a ship. — To lay wait for, to lie in ambush for. — To lay waste, to destroy; to make desolate; as, to lay waste the land.

Synonyms: See Put, transitive verb, and the Note under 4th Lie.

1. To produce and deposit eggs.

2. Nautical To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft.

3. To lay a wager; to bet.

To lay about, or To lay about one, to strike vigorously in all directions. Cardinal John Henry Newman — To lay at, to strike or strike at. Edmund Spenser — To lay for, to prepare to capture or assault; to lay wait for. colloquial Bp Hall. — To lay in for, to make overtures for; to engage or secure the possession of. obsolete “I have laid in for these.” John Dryden — To lay on, to strike; to beat; to attack. William Shakespeare — To lay out, to purpose; to plan; as, he lays out to make a journey.

1. 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. Joseph Addison

A viol should have a lay of wire strings below.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

☞ The lay of a rope is right-handed or left-handed according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See Lay, transitive verb, 16. The lay of land is its topographical situation, esp. its slope and its surface features.

2. A wager. “My fortunes against any lay worth naming.”

3. (a) A job, price, or profit. dialect (England) Thomas Wright (b) 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. US

4. Textile Manuf. (a) A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a). (b) The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.

5. A plan; a scheme. slang Charles Dickens

Lay figure. (a) A jointed model of the human body that may be put in any attitude; — used for showing the disposition of drapery, etc. (b) A mere puppet; one who serves the will of others without independent volition. — Lay race, that part of a lay on which the shuttle travels in weaving; — called also shuttle race. — the lay of the land, the general situation or state of affairs. — to get the lay of the land, to learn the general situation or state of affairs, especially in preparation for action.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54