lay 
Yniol with that hard message went ; It (ell, 
Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. 
Tennyson, Oeraint. 
5. To cause to lie quiet or still ; bring to a state 
of rest or quietness ; put down; allay. 
Where are my tears? rain, to lay this wind, or my heart 
will be blown up by the root. Shak., T. and C. , iv. 4. 65. 
Alas ! the devil 's sooner raised than laid. 
Oarrick, Prol. to School (or Scandal. 
6. To place in contiguity or near relation; jux- 
tapose; annex; conjoin. 
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field 
to field. Isa. v. S. 
7. To place in an orderly fashion, as in courses 
or layers ; dispose serially or in courses ; put 
together in proper position : as, to lay bricks ; 
to lay the timbers of a ship. 8. To form or 
construct by arranging and placing in order the 
serial parts or elements of : as, to lay a founda- 
tion; to lay a mine in besieging a town ; to lay 
a floor. 
Or that the broader way 
Gives Danger room more ambushes to lay. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, ii. 8. 
It is reported, that when the workmen began to lay the 
platform at Chalcedon, how certain Eagles convayed their 
lines to the other side of the Straight. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 23. 
9. To put into shape or form mentally; settle 
or determine upon; fix; arrange; contrive: 
often with out: as, to lay plans; to lay out a 
course of action. 
He had his liking ilaide that Ladie too wedde. 
Alimunder of Macedoine (E. E. T. S.), 1. 203. 
God had laid it so that Moses should be settled this way, 
by having so able a man, and then a man in whom he 
might be so confident as a brother, joined in commission 
with him. Donne, Sermons, v. 
You may guess how ill laid his schemes were, when he 
[Lord Bath] durst not indulge both his ambition and ava- 
rice ! Walpole, Letters, II. 7. 
10. To direct by planning; mark out: order: 
as, the captain laid his course toward the land. 
11. To put down or deposit as a stake or 
wager; stake; risk as a bet on a contingency; 
wager; bet; venture. 
I will lai with the, Litel John, twenti pound so read. 
Playe of Robyn Hode (Child's Ballads, V. 425). 
Ill lay my life this is my husband's dotage. 
B. Jonson, Every Man out of his Humour, iv. 1. 
12. To place on or over a surface; apply or fix 
superficially; superpose: as, to lay on paint or 
plaster; to lay one fabric over another in sew- 
ing. 
I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon 
you. I'.zuk. xxxvii. 6. 
13. To cover wholly or in part with something 
else; coat or mark with something affixed: as, 
to lay a rope with sennit, or a garment with 
braid. 
For it [the robe] ful wel 
With orfrays leyd was every del. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 1076. 
Ye shall every one have a velvet coat, 
Laid down with golden laces three. 
Johnie Armstrang (Child's Ballads, VI. 42). 
A building of stone . . . being not finished, and laid 
with clay for want of lime, two sides of it were washed 
down to the ground. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 76. 
14. To deposit the proper things on or in: in 
certain special uses: as, to lay a table (with 
cloth, dishes, etc.) ; to lay printers' cases (with 
new type). 
When she woke up she heard Mrs. Bolton laying the 
table for her one o'clock dinner. 
Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 142. 
15. To bring forth and deposit, as eggs: said 
specifically of any oviparous animal. 
Wol thou thai [hens] often hatche and eyron grete 
Thai legge? Half boiled barly thou hem bring. 
Pattadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.X p. 22. 
The flies of latter spring, 
That lay their eggs, and sting and sing. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, 1. 
16. To put or place to one's account or credit ; 
charge; impute. 
Men groan from out of the city : . . . yet God layeth not 
folly to them. Job xxiv. 12. 
So prepare the poison 
As you may lay the subtile operation 
Upon some natural disease of his. 
B. Jonson, Sejanus, ii. 1. 
17. To present or prefer: as, to lay claim to 
something. 
She shows you, Curius, 
What claim your country lays to you, and what duty 
You owe to it B. Jonson, Catiline, ill. 2. 
John Earl of Mountford laid Claim to the Duchy of Brit- 
ain, but in the Quarrel was taken Prisoner by the King of 
France. Baker, Chronicles, p. 120. 
3380 
Specifically, in law: (a) To present or bring before a court 
of justice : as, to lay an indictment, (b) To allege ; state : 
as, to lay the venue ; to lay damages. 
18f. To search; haunt. 
I have been laying all the town for thee. 
Middletan, Trick to Catch the Old One, i. 2. 
19t. Same as to lay for (which see, under II.). 
Master Primero was robbed of a carkanet upon Monday 
last; laid the goldsmiths, and found it. 
Middleton, Your Five Gallants, iv. 8. 
Laid aback. See a&octi. Laid embroidery. (o)Gimp- 
ed or raised embroidery. (b) Church embroidery in gen- 
eral. Diet, of Needlework. Laid gold, in embroidery, 
heavy gold thread laid fiat upon the surface and held 
down, as in couched work, by stitches. Laid on, in 
carp., said of moldings made in strips nailed to any sur- 
face. Laid rope. See rope. Laid work, in embroidery, 
same as laid embroidery. Lath laid and set. See lathi. 
To lay aboard. See aboard^. To lay a cable or 
rope, to unite and twist the strands. To lay a course, 
to lie or sail in a certain direction without being obliged 
to tack. To lay a dak. See dot. To lay alongt, to 
prostrate ; knock down ; overthrow. 
To overthrow, lay along, and destroy, sterno. 
Withals, Diet. (ed. 1608), p. 202. 
In one place the walls of cities are laid along. 
Holland. 
The leaders first he laid along. Dryden, JEneld, i. 264. 
To lay aside, (a) To put on one side or out of the way 
for a time or for a purpose ; reserve from present use : as, 
to lay aside one's work, or part of one's earnings. (6) To 
put away permanently ; give up ; abandon ; discard : as, to 
lay aside a bad habit. To lay away, (a) To put aside ; 
give up ; discard. 
Such the sight 
Of fowle Duessa, when her borrowed light 
Is laid away, and counterfesaunce knowne. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. vUi. 49. 
(6) To lay by or aside for preservation ; place in store for 
safe keeping or future use : as, to lay away a hundred dol- 
lars a year. To lay before, to exhibit or submit to ; pre- 
sent for inspection or consideration to : as, he laid his pa- 
pers, or his opinions, before the committee. To lay by. 
(a) To put aside or away ; put off ; dismiss ; discard. 
And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from 
her. Gen. xxxviii. 18. 
Lay by all nicety and prolixious blushes. 
Shak., M. for M., Ii. 4. 162. 
They would lay by their animosities implicitly, if he bid 
them be friends. Steele, Spectator, No. 497. 
(b) To put aside for future use; lay up; reserve: to, to lay 
by a part of one's income. To lay by the heels. See 
heeli. To lay by the lee, to bring by the lee. See bring. 
To lay Claim to. See claim*, and def. 17, above. To 
lay down, (a) To relinquish ; abandon ; resign ; give up : 
as, to lay down an office or commission, (ft) To stake or de- 
posit as a pledge, equivalent, or satisfaction : as, lay down 
your money. 
Next day he writ to me that eight pounds would dis- 
charge him, and that Mr. Selden would lay down hah*. 
Donne, Letters, Ixxii. 
(et) To fasten down or apply as embroidery ; embroider ; 
decorate. 
A scarlet cloak, laid down with silver lace three inches 
broad. Scott, Monastery, xiv. 
(d) To set down, as a plan on paper ; delineate : as, to lay 
down a chart of a shore or sea ; in ship-building, to layoff 
(see below), (e) To set down as a basis for argument or 
action ; in general, to affirm ; assert ; as, to lay down a 
proposition or principle; especially, to assert magisteri- 
ally or dictatorially : as, to lay down the law. 
Hee layes you downe a hundred wild plots, all impossible 
things, which you must be ruled by perforce. 
Up. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Medling Man. 
Plato lays it down as a maxim that men ought to wor- 
ship the gods according to the laws of the country. 
Swift, Sentiments of a Ch. of Eng. Man, i. 
(/) To store away for future use, as wine or provisions in 
a cellar. 
Mr. Linkinwater had only been here twenty year, Sir, 
when that pipe of double-diamond was laid down. 
Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby, xxxvii. 
To lay fortht, to lay or set out ; expend ; set forth. To 
lay hands on. See hand.lo lay or put heads to- 
gether, to confer; consult To lay hold Of or on, to 
grasp; seize; catch. To lay in, to provide or procure 
and place in store : as, to lay in provisions. To lay in 
balance. See balance. To lay In lavender. See lav- 
enderz. To lay in one's disht , to urge as an objection; 
make a subject of accusation, or an occasion of faultfind- 
ing with one. 
Last night you lay it, madam, in our dish 
How that a maid of ours (whom we must check) 
Had broke your bitches leg. 
Sir J. Harington, Epigrams, i. 27. 
Think'st thou 'twill not be laid f th' dish 
Thou turn'dst thy back ? quoth Echo, pish. 
S. Butter, Hndibras, I. iii. 209. 
To lay It on, to do anything to excess, as to be lavish in 
expenditure, to charge an exorbitant price, to natter or 
denounce extravagantly, etc. 
My father hath made her mistress of the feast, and she 
lays it on. Shak., W. T., iv. 3. 41. 
For inconstancy 111 suffer ; 
Lay it on, justice, till my soul melt in me. 
Beau, and Fl., King and No King, iv. 2. 
To lay Off. (a) To remove and lay aside ; rid one's self of : 
as, to lay off an outer garment ; to lay off a burden. (6) To 
dismiss, as a workman, usually temporarily. [Colloq., U. 
S.] (c) To measure or mark off ; delineate on paper, as the 
details of a survey or plan, (d) In ship-building, to trans- 
fer (the plans of a ship) from the paper to the full size on 
lay 
the floor of the mold-loft, (e) To turn from any point or 
object, as the head of a boat. To lay on. (a) To apply 
with force ; inflict : as, to lay on blows, (b) To supply, as 
water, gas, etc., to houses by means of pipes leading from 
a main reservoir: sometimes used figuratively in this 
sense, (c) To turn toward any point or object, as the 
head of a boat, To lay one open to, to expose one to. 
To lay one's self fortht, to exert one's self vigorously 
or earnestly. To lay one's self out, to make vigorous or 
earnest effort; exert one's self; take special pains. To 
lay on loadt, to lay load ont, to hit hard; attack 
fiercely or with vigor ; belabor. 
They fell from words to sharpe, and laid on load amaine, 
Untill at length in fight hight Irenglas was slain. 
Mir. for Mags., p. 134. (Nares.) 
Britomart and gentle Scudamour . . . 
So dreadfull strokes each did at other drive, 
And laid on load with all their might and powre. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. ix. 22. 
To lay on the table. See table. To lay open, (a) To 
open; make bare; uncover; show; expose; reveal: as, 
to lay open the designs of an enemy. 
Their smoothness, like a goodly champaign plain, 
Lays open all the little worms that creep. 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1248. 
(b) To make an opening in ; wound ; cut in such a way as 
to expose what is inside or underneath. 
Its edge laid the rapparee's face open in a bright scarlet 
gash extending from eyebrow to chin. 
Laurence, Guy Livingstone, p. 130. 
To lay out. (a) To expend ; dispense ; lavish. (bt) To 
display ; show or exhibit. 
Live and lay out your triumphs, gild your glories. 
Fletcher, Mad Lover, iii. 4. 
(c) To show or set forth; expose. 
He was dangerous, and takes occasion to lay out bigotry 
and false confidence in all its colours. Bp. Atterbury. 
(d) To plan ; dispose in order the several parts of : as, to 
lay out a garden, (e) To dress in grave-clothes and place 
in a recumbent and extended posture for burial : said of a 
corpse. (/) To disable ; place hors de combat : as, he laid 
him out with a single blow or shot. [Vulgar.] To lay 
over, to spread over ; incrust ; cover the surface of ; over- 
lay: as, to lay over with gold or silver. To lay Siege to. 
(a) To besiege ; encompass with an army. 
After this it was concluded that the King should lay 
Siege to the City of Tournay. Baker, Chronicles, p. 259. 
(6) Figuratively, to importune ; besiege with constant so- 
licitations. To lay the land (naut), to cause the land 
apparently to sink or appear lower by sailing from it, the 
distance diminishing the elevation. To lay the venue, 
in law, to specify a certain place as the venue. To lay 
to. (a) To apply with vigor. 
Lay to your fingers ; help to bear this away. 
Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 281. 
(6t) To attack or harass, (c) Naut., to check the motion 
of, as a ship, and cause her to be stationary. To lay to 
gaget. See gage*. To lay to heart. See heart. To 
lay to one's charge, to accuse one of ; hold one respon- 
sible for. To lay Up. (a) To store away or lay aside, as 
for future use ; deposit ; store up. 
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Mat. vi. 20. 
(6) To reserve ; hold in reserve. 
There were forty or fifty acres of grass laid up for hay. 
Fronde, Sketches, p. 74. 
(c) To confine to the bed or one's room, as by illness; in- 
capacitate or lay aside for a time. 
You'll drink, doctor, 
If there be any good meat, as much good wine now 
As would /"// up a Dutch ambassador. 
B. Jonson, Staple of News, iii. 1. 
(d) Naut., to dismantle, as a ship, and put in a dock or 
other place of security, (e) To lay together and secure, as 
the strands of a rope by twisting, or the wires of a wire 
cable by twisting or binding. TO lay wait, to lie in wait, 
or in ambush. 
Than com tidiuges how the kynge Arthur hadde leide 
a-waite a-gein hym. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 659. 
Even mine own familiar friend . . . hath laid great 
wait for me. Book of Common Prayer, Psalter, xli. 9. 
To lay waste, to devastate ; desolate ; make a waste or 
desert of by destruction. 
Nineveh's turn comes to drink deep of this Cup of Fury, 
and she was laid wast for returning to her sins after Re- 
pentance. Stillingjleet, Sermons, II. iv. 
Cities laid waste, they storm'd the dens and caves. 
Pope, Windsor Forest, 1. 49. 
= 8yn. Set, Place, etc. See put. 
il.intrawf. 1. Tobringforthorproduceeggs. 
Hens will greedily eat the herb which will make them 
lay the better. Mortimer, Husbandry. 
2. To contrive ; form a scheme ; lay plans ; take 
steps. [Bare.] 
I owe him money for sweetmeats, and he has laid to ar- 
rest me, I hear. B. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1. 
Scarce are then- consorts cold, ere they are laying for a 
second match. Bp. Hall, Cases of Conscience. 
3. To wager; bet; stake money: as, to lay on 
a race-horse. 4. Naut., to put or place one's 
self in a certain position; go or come as indi- 
cated: as, lay aloft; lay down from aloft; lay 
aft. (This nautical use of lay, supposed by some to be an 
error for lie, is of the same nature as in the preceding cases 
and in the phrases below. In all of them lay is the transi- 
tive verb used intransitively, an object being always im- 
plied. Thus, lay aloft means put or place yourself aloft ; 
lay about you, lay your weapon (for instance) on the per- 
sons or objects around you.] 
