Definition of Lay

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Definition of Lay

Lay

of Lie, to recline.

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

Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

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

The laity; the common people.

A meadow. See Lea.

Faith; creed; religious profession.

A law.

An obligation; a vow.

A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad.

A melody; any musical utterance.

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.

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.

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

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

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

To cause to lie dead or dying.

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

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

To apply; to put.

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

To impute; to charge; to allege.

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

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

To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.

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

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.

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

To place (new type) properly in the cases.

To produce and deposit eggs.

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

To lay a wager; to bet.

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.

A wager.

A job, price, or profit.

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.

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

The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.

A plan; a scheme.

of Lie

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Lay Quotations

When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.
George Washington

Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.
Henry David Thoreau

A truly good book teaches me better than to read it. I must soon lay it down, and commence living on its hint. What I began by reading, I must finish by acting.
Henry David Thoreau

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.
Henry David Thoreau

Books can only reveal us to ourselves, and as often as they do us this service we lay them aside.
Henry David Thoreau

Let him that is without stone among you cast the first thing he can lay his hands on.
Robert Frost

The wise man does not lay up his own treasures. The more he gives to others, the more he has for his own.
Lao Tzu

If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?
John Adams

Here is everything which can lay hold of the eye, ear and imagination - everything which can charm and bewitch the simple and ignorant. I wonder how Luther ever broke the spell.
John Adams

I never knew a man come to greatness or eminence who lay abed late in the morning.
Jonathan Swift

Lay Translations

lay in Dutch is neerleggen, leggen, vlijen
lay in French is pondre, pose
lay in German is legen
lay in Italian is posare
lay in Latin is iacio
lay in Norwegian is kvad, legge
lay in Spanish is poner, aovar

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