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lay

/leɪ/
verbnounadjective

To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

NWL Collins ENABLE

Verb 4 meanings

  1. To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

    “to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave”

  2. To compel a supernatural entity to cease haunting a place, often by ritual or prayer; to exorcise or banish (a spirit or ghost).

  3. To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

  4. To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

    “lay brick; lay flooring”

Noun 3 meanings

  1. Arrangement or relationship; layout.

    “the lay of the land”

  2. A share of the profits in a business.

    “While the Pequod lay at Nantucket, Peleg put Ishmael down for the three hundredth lay.”

  3. The direction a rope is twisted.

    “Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.”

Adjective 3 meanings

  1. Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

    “They seemed more lay than clerical.”

  2. Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

  3. Not trumps.

Definitions: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA) via Kaikki/Wiktextract

Where it comes from

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”).

Similar and opposite words

Similar
ascribeattributeaccreditattachchargedrawimputerepose
Opposite
clericalsecular

LAY at a glance

LAY has 3 letters and scores 6 points in Scrabble (L 1 + A 1 + Y 4) and 6 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,247 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.

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