Library / English Dictionary

LAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: laid   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A narrative poem of popular origin

Synonyms:

ballad; lay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("lay" is a kind of...):

poem; verse form (a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lay"):

Edda (either of two distinct works in Old Icelandic dating from the late 13th century and consisting of 34 mythological and heroic ballads composed between 800 and 1200; the primary source for Scandinavian mythology)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A narrative song with a recurrent refrain

Synonyms:

ballad; lay

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("lay" is a kind of...):

song; vocal (a short musical composition with words)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lay"):

minstrelsy (ballads sung by minstrels)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not of or from a profession

Example:

a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

nonprofessional (not professional; not engaged in a profession or engaging in as a profession or for gain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy

Example:

the lay ministry

Synonyms:

laic; lay; secular

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

profane; secular (not concerned with or devoted to religion)

Derivation:

laity (in Christianity, members of a religious community that do not have the priestly responsibilities of ordained clergy)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put into a certain place or abstract location

Example:

Place emphasis on a certain point

Synonyms:

lay; place; pose; position; put; set

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lay" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lay"):

instal; install; put in; set up (set up for use)

plant; set (put or set (seeds, seedlings, or plants) into the ground)

recline (cause to recline)

place upright; stand; stand up (put into an upright position)

lay; put down; repose (put in a horizontal position)

seat (place in or on a seat)

seat; sit; sit down (show to a seat; assign a seat for)

upend (set, turn, or stand on end)

pillow; rest (rest on or as if on a pillow)

ground (place or put on the ground)

barrel (put in barrels)

bucket (put into a bucket)

bottle (put into bottles)

set down (put or settle into a position)

juxtapose (place side by side)

misplace (place or position wrongly; put in the wrong position)

seed; sow (place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth)

place down; put down; set down (cause to sit or seat or be in a settled position or place)

appose (place side by side or in close proximity)

imbricate (place so as to overlap)

throw (to put into a state or activity hastily, suddenly, or carelessly)

settle; settle down (settle into a position, usually on a surface or ground)

marshal (place in proper rank)

space (place at intervals)

glycerolise; glycerolize (place in glycerol)

position (cause to be in an appropriate place, state, or relation)

seat (place or attach firmly in or on a base)

siphon (move a liquid from one container into another by means of a siphon or a siphoning action)

set (put into a position that will restore a normal state)

cram (put something somewhere so that the space is completely filled)

load (put (something) on a structure or conveyance)

perch (cause to perch or sit)

rest (put something in a resting position, as for support or steadying)

clap (put quickly or forcibly)

lean (cause to lean or incline)

poise (cause to be balanced or suspended)

ladle (put (a liquid) into a container by means of a ladle)

deposit; fix; posit; situate (put (something somewhere) firmly)

emplace (put into place or position)

dispose (place or put in a particular order)

ensconce; settle (fix firmly)

park (place temporarily)

superpose (place (one geometric figure) upon another so that their perimeters coincide)

lay over; superimpose; superpose (place on top of)

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

pile (place or lay as if in a pile)

nestle; snuggle (position comfortably)

intersperse (place at intervals in or among)

plant (place something or someone in a certain position in order to secretly observe or deceive)

stratify (form, arrange, or deposit in layers)

put back; replace (put something back where it belongs)

step (place (a ship's mast) in its step)

prepose (place before another constituent in the sentence)

postpose (place after another constituent in the sentence)

cock (set the trigger of a firearm back for firing)

docket (place on the docket for legal action)

enclose; inclose; insert; introduce; put in; stick in (place, fit, or thrust (something) into another thing)

bed (put to bed)

coffin (place into a coffin)

rack up (place in a rack)

tee; tee up (place on a tee)

throw; thrust (place or put with great energy)

reposition (place into another position)

recess (put into a recess)

butt (place end to end without overlapping)

parallelize (place parallel to one another)

middle (put in the middle)

sign (place signs, as along a road)

repose (to put something (eg trust) in something)

jar (place in a cylindrical vessel)

shelve (place on a shelf)

pigeonhole (place into a small compartment)

trench (set, plant, or bury in a trench)

underlay (put (something) under or beneath)

ship (place on board a ship)

emplace (provide a new emplacement for guns)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They lay the bags on the table

Also:

lay out (lay out orderly or logically in a line or as if in a line)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put in a horizontal position

Example:

lay the patient carefully onto the bed

Synonyms:

lay; put down; repose

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lay" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Cause:

lie (be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lay"):

rail (lay with rails)

lay; blow (lay eggs)

bury; entomb; inhume; inter; lay to rest (place in a grave or tomb)

rebury (bury again)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Also:

lay aside (accumulate money for future use)

lay away (save up as for future use)

lay over (place on top of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lay eggs

Example:

This hen doesn't lay

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "lay" is one way to...):

lay; put down; repose (put in a horizontal position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lay"):

spawn (lay spawn)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

layer (a hen that lays eggs)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Prepare or position for action or operation

Example:

lay the foundation for a new health care plan

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "lay" is one way to...):

devise; get up; machinate; organise; organize; prepare (arrange by systematic planning and united effort)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Impose as a duty, burden, or punishment

Example:

lay a responsibility on someone

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "lay" is one way to...):

impose; levy (impose and collect)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

A plan or design of something that is laid out.

(Layout, NCI Thesaurus)

We accordingly lay to, hoping that some change would take place in the atmosphere and weather.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The ears lay flat to the head.

(English Foxhound, NCI Thesaurus)

Miss Kate took out her sketch again, and Margaret watched her, while Mr. Brooke lay on the grass with a book, which he did not read.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

So they took stock of the hole where the nest lay, and trotted away.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

A permanent cable to the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS) node was laid in 2009, 20 kilometers of which were used in this test.

(Underwater telecom cables make superb seismic network, National Science Foundation)

The researchers started by laying down layers of carbon atoms to form the crystal.

(Key Tech for Quantum Communications Offered by Implanting Diamonds with Flaws, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A wound or cleft resulted from tissue separation into parts or laid open or penetrated with a sharp edge or instrument.

(Cut, NCI Thesaurus)

To lay on a substance or preparation.

(Apply, NCI Thesaurus)

That runs counter to the centuries-long paradigm that has laid the foundation for the environmental sciences.

(New source of global nitrogen discovered: Earth’s bedrock, National Science Foundation)