| 释义 |
▪ I. lay, n.1 Obs. exc. dial.|leɪ|
Forms: α. 1 laᵹu, 3 laȝe; pl. 3 lawes, 4 lauen. β. 3 lei-e, 3, 5 ley, 4 leye, laie, 4–5 laye, 4, 9 (dial.) lay.
[OE. laᵹu (oblique cases laᵹe); the β forms may represent either an OE. *læᵹe dat., acc., or gen., or the ON. legi dative, legir plural, of the equivalent lǫg-r:—OTeut. *lagu-z:—pre-Teut. *lakú-s (= L. lacus lake n.4). It is also probable that in some instances the β forms represent an adoption of OF. lai pool:—L. lacum.]
A lake, pool.
αa1000Boeth. Metr. ix. 40 Lyft and laᵹu land ymbclyppaþ garsecg embegyrt gumena rice. a1000Cædmon's Gen. 211 (Gr.) Laᵹo yrnende. a1300Childh. Jesus 314–19 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1875) 12–13 Watur þare with inne he brouȝte, His lawes maken þare inne he þouȝte. Bote a giw of heorte wrac Alle hise lawes þare he to brac. Iesu him seide with hastiue wille..Ȝwi hast þou to broke mi lay? 1340–70Alisaunder 3856 Theo blod, of heom that was slawen, Ran by flodis and by lauen.
βc1330Arth. & Merl. 5296 Þe blod ran in þe valaie So water out of a laie. Ibid. 9652 He made alle a valaye Al so it were a brod leye. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 367 Alisaundre..hadde alle maner bestes in kepyng in hyves, in layes, in fisshe weres and pondes. 1390Gower Conf. II. 167 She was nigh the great lay Of Triton [= L. Tritonia palus] founde, where she lay A child for-cast. a1440Sir Degrev. 239 One a launde by a ley These lordus dounne lyght. 1481Caxton Godfrey cciii. 298 The cyte of tabarye, whiche stondeth on the laye of Geme. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Lay, a very large pond. 1840Spurdens Suppl. Voc. E. Anglia, Lays: always, I believe, in the plural number: as ‘Denham lays’. Ponds in the midst of coppice and timber.
b. attrib., as lay-fen, lay-mire.
c1205Lay. 22835 Draȝeð hine to ane more & doð hine in an ley uen [c 1275 laȝe fen]. a1225Ancr. R. 328 So me deoppre wadeð into þe ueondes leie uenne [MS. T. iðe deoueles lei mure], so me kumeð later up. a1225Marherete 14 Ich leade ham iþe leiuen [printed leinen] ant iþe ladliche lake of þe suti sunne. c1230Hali Meid. 33 Hwase lið ileinen [i.e. i lei uen, MS. B. ileifen] deope bisunken.
▪ II. † lay, n.2 Obs.
In 3 leȝhe, lai.
[a. ON. leiga hire, toll.]
Hire. Also in comb. leȝhemann (= ON. leigumaðr), a hireling.
c1200Ormin 6222 And ȝunnc birrþ ȝunnkerr leȝhemenn Rihht laȝhelike ledenn. Ibid. 6234 And heore leȝhe birrþ hemm beon Rædiȝ þann itt iss addledd. a1300Cursor M. 11814 Nu neghes tim to tak his lai [Fairf. mede, Trin. pay].
▪ III. † lay, n.3 Obs.
Also 3 lei, 3–4 lai(e, 5 ley, 5–6 laye.
[a. OF. lei, mod.F. loi law = Pr. ley, lei, Cat. lley, Sp. ley, Pg. lei, It. legge:—L. lēgem, lēx law.]
Law; esp. religious law; hence, a religion, a faith.
a1225Leg. Kath. 166 Þæt cristene weren & leaffule in godes lei. Ibid. 832 Sone se ich awei warp ower witlese lei. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1201 Ðor-of holden ðe ieuwes lay. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 457/18 Formest he wende to Orlians to prechie godes lay. a1300Cursor M. 1428 Fra abraham..Til moyses þat gaf þe lai. Ibid. 1474 To fight al for þe cristen lay. Ibid. 13593 ‘A prophet’, said he, ‘be mi lai’. 13..Sir Beues (A.) 1053 Þow schelt swere vpon þe lay. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 983 All þat euire war of Iowis lay. c1385Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 10. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 764 If he will Baptised be And lefe his fals laye. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 105 My fey, My byleue, and my ley, er þes. c1440York Myst. xi. 44 Now are they like to lose our layse. Ibid. xxxviii. 445 It is gretely against oure lay. 1513Douglas æneis vi. xiv. 8 Numa Pompilius, quhilk sall..Begyn and statut with lawis and haly layis The cheif cetie of Rome. 1534Tindale Acts xxvi. 5 After the most straytest secte of oure laye [1526 lawe], lyved I a pharisaye. 1593Peele Chron. Edw. I, B 3, 'Tis Churchmans laie and veritie To liue in loue and charitie. 1599? Kyd Soliman & Pers. i. A 4 b, Welcome vnto thee renowned Turke, Not for thy lay, but for thy worth in armes.
▪ IV. lay, n.4|leɪ|
Also 3–4 lai, 4–6 laie, 4–7 laye.
[a. OF. lai (recorded from the 12th c.) = Pr. lais, lays; of uncertain etymology.
The most likely view is that favoured by M. Gaston Paris, that the word is of Teut. origin, an adoption of some form of the word represented by OHG., MHG. leich, play, melody, song. The ON. lag (see law n.1), used in the sense of ‘tune’, would also be phonetically a possible source. Connexion with Teut. *leuþo- (OE. léoð, Ger. lied) is out of the question, as are the Celtic words commonly cited: the Irish laoidh is believed to represent an OCeltic type *lūdi-; the Welsh llais voice, sound, is too remote in meaning, and the assumed Breton equivalent is non-existent.]
1. A short lyric or narrative poem intended to be sung.
Originally applied spec. to the poems, usually dealing with matter of history or romantic adventure, which were sung by minstrels. From the 16th to the 18th c. the word was a mere poetical synonym for ‘song’. This use still continues, but lay is now often employed (partly after G. lied, with which it is often erroneously supposed to be etymologically connected) as the appropriate term for a popular historical ballad such as those on which the Homeric poems are by some believed to be founded. Some writers have misapplied it to long poems of epic character like the Nibelungenlied or Beowulf.
a1240Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 199 Þet ich habbe þe i-sungen ðesne englissce lai. c1320Sir Tristr. 551 An harpour made alay. c1320Orpheo 13–16 In Brytayn this layes arne ywrytt..Of aventures that fillen by dayes, Wherof Brytons made her layes. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 637 And in a lettre wroot he al his sorwe In manere of a compleynt or a lay. ― Frankl. Prol. 2 Thise olde gentil Britons in hir dayes Of diuerse auentures maden layes,.. Whiche layes with hir Instrumentz they songe, Or elles redden hem for hir plesance. a1400–50Alexander 6 Sum has langing of lufe lays to herken. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xxxi, Thenne came Elyas the harper..and told hym the lay that Dynadan had made by Kynge Marke. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour A j, I made songes layes Roundels balades. 1592Davies Immort. Soul ix. iv. (1714) 60 The holy Angels Choir Doth spread his Glory forth with spiritual Lays. 1608Shakes. Per. v. Prol. 4 Shee sings like one immortall, and shee daunces As Goddesse-like to her admired layes. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 542 To Bacchus therefore let us tune our Lays. 1714Gay Trivia i. 21 My Country's Love demands the Lays. 1718Prior Solomon ii. 80 Each morn they wak'd me with a sprightly lay; Of opening Heaven they sung. a1758Ramsay Some of the Contents iii, Attackis his freind Dunbar in comick layis. 1805Scott (title) The Lay of the Last Minstrel. 1827Keble Chr. Y., Catechism, Why should we think He turns away From infants' simple lays. 1842Macaulay (title) Lays of Ancient Rome. 1849― Hist. Eng. iii. I. 418 The popular lays chaunted about the streets of Norwich and Leeds in the time of Charles the Second. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xlviii, These brief lays, of Sorrow born. 1886F. B. Jevons in Jrnl. Hellenic Studies VII. 303 The theory of the aggregationists, that the Iliad is an agglomeration of orginally independent lays.
b. poet. Applied to the song of birds.
13..K. Alis. 5211 Mery time it is in May, The foules syngeth her lay. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 57 For to leorne the layes that louely foules maden. c1386Chaucer Sir Thopas 58 The thrustelcok made eek his lay. 1390Gower Conf. III. 119 Whan every bird upon his lay Among the grene leves singeth. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. iii. 93 Madame, my selfe haue..plac't a Quier of such enticing Birds, That she will light to listen to the Layes. 1742Young Nt. Th. i. 443 Sweet Philomel!.. ev'ry star Is deaf to mine, enamour'd of thy lay. a1788J. Logan Cuckoo iv, The school-boy..Starts, the new voice of Spring to hear, And imitates thy lay.
†2. Strain, tune. Obs.
a1529Skelton Agst. Garnesche iv. 6 Your chorlyshe chauntyng ys all o' lay. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 118 A continuall ianglyng of this Portingall Coockoe chatteryng alwayes one maner of laye in myne eares.
▪ V. † lay, n.5 Obs. rare—1.
[? repr. OE. *læᵹ = ON. lag: see law n.2]
A bill, score, reckoning.
13..Metr. Hom. (Vernon MS.) in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LVII. 267 He..bad his hostes feede hem þat day And sette heore costes in his lay.
▪ VI. † lay, n.6
Also 5–6 laye, laie, 6–8 ley.
[? Aphetic form of allay n.1]
Alloy. Chiefly attrib. in lay metal, the name of a kind of pewter.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 402 Þi godis..Ar mad bot of handis of mene Of gold and siluir & of clay, Of stok, of stone ore of lay. 1489Will of Wynter (Somerset Ho.), j C de fyne metall et j C de lay metall. 1503Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 6 §3 That no manere of person..make no holowe wares of Peauter, that is to say Saltes and Pottes that is made of Peweter called Ley Metell, but that it may be after the Assise of Peauter Ley Metell wrought within the Cite of London. 1534in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 210 Item xxv platers of lay metall. 1538Inv. in J. W. Clark Barnwell Introd. (1897) 23 Item j lauer of laye mettell. 1794G. Adams Nat. & Exp. Philos. I. App. 562 Lead and tin Ley-pewter, soft sold[er].
▪ VII. lay, n.7|leɪ|
Also 6–7 laye, laie, ley(e.
[f. lay v.1]
†1. A wager, bet, stake. Often in phr. even lay, a wager in which the chances are equal on either side, an even chance. Hence (in fair, good, etc. lay) = chance, hazard. Obs.
1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. vii. iv. (1886) 107 It is an even laie, that an idiot shall conjecture right. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 27 Clif. My soule and bodie on the action both. Yor. A dreadfull lay. 1601Holland Pliny II. 495 They bound themselues by a sacred lay and oth to fight it out to the last man. 1604Dekker Honest Wh. i. i. Wks. 1873 II. 17 Done, 'tis a lay, joyne gols on it. 1610Beaum. & Fl. Scornf. Lady v. i, If I had been unhandsome, old or jealous, 't had been an even lay she might have scorn'd me. 1725New Cant. Dict. s.v. Lay, An Hazard or Chance; as, He stands a queer Lay; He stands an odd Chance, or is in great Danger. 1726De Foe Hist. Devil i. x. (1840) 135 By venturing my life upon an even lay with him. 1729E. Erskine Wks. (1871) I. 453 What a fair lay sinners living under the Gospel dispensation have for the eternal Salvation of their Souls. 1769Chesterfield Lett. 296 You will stand a very good lay, for if it is a prize it shall be yours, if a blank, mine.
2. a. A place of lying or lodging; lair, couch (of animals); an oyster- or mussel-bed; = laying vbl. n. 2 c, layer n. 4 b.
1590Greene Mourn. Garm. (1616) 42 The Fawne doth choose his foode by the laie of the olde Bucke. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Bonduca i. ii, I have found ye, Your lays, and out-leaps, Junius, haunts, and lodges. 1867F. Francis Angling vii. (1880) 252 The boatman will probably know..the lay of the trout. 1902Westm. Gaz. 12 June 10/1 The oyster and mussel lays off the foreshore have hitherto been worked on the large scale. 1905Country Life 25 Mar. 400/2 More than 200 fresh oyster ‘lays’ have now been staked out on the north side of the Witham.
†b. ? Right of pasturing cattle; ? number of cattle pastured at one time. Obs.
1596in T. Harwood Lichfield (1806) 527 Rec. for the fyrst leye into the Churche yarde for foure and twentye beastes and a weanynge calfe—xxxvj. s.
†3. A layer, stratum; a ‘course’ (of masonry).
1594Plat Jewell-ho. i. 35 By making a lay of dung of a foot in thicknesse. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 214 First they layed a lay of Brickes, then a Mat made of Canes, square as the Brickes. 1626Bacon Sylva §280 It was devised, that a Viall should have a Lay of Wire Strings below, as close to the Belly as a Lute. 1678Moxon Mech. Exerc. 65 Continue your several lays of Plaining, till the whole upside of the Stuff be plained. c1682J. Collins Making Salt 16 It was..pressed into a Cask, with sprinklings of Salt between each Lay. 1693Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard., Refl. Agric. 55 These..make up what we call a Bed or Lay of Roots. 1704Addison Italy (1733) 225 Different Lays of white and black Marble. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Vertigo, Those [Animal Spirits] that are in the Lays of the Optick Nerves. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 221 Lay them in the same water, with a lay of leaves betwixt.
4. The act of imposing a tax; an impost, assessment, rate, tax. Now dial.
1558in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 95 It is to be levied by force of one ley yearly to be gathered by the Bailiffs for the time being. 1597Churchw. Acc. Cartmel in J. Stockdale Ann. Cartmel, etc. (1872) 36 A caste or laye should bee forthwith had throughout all the parish. 1601Acc.-Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 79 A note of all layes and sesments..one laye of xxxs. 1624Sir E. Sandys 15 Apr. in Cobbett Parl. Hist. (1806) I. 1421 In the lay of the first Imposition,..it was promised, That [etc.]. 1647in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 143 A Ley or Taxacion of xiil. c1860Staton Rays fro' th' Loomenary 34 Its some beggar, or else its th' chap ut collects th' lays. 1861Smiles Engineers I. 419 In 1750 a lay of 3d. in the pound produced only {pstlg}6 2s. 1½ d. 1888Sheffield Gloss., Lay, a rate, an assessment.
5. Rate or ‘terms’ of purchase or remuneration. local U.S.
1712Connect. Col. Rec. (1870) V. 333 Provided that such land..shall be sold to such possessors thereof at the same lay as the residue of said land. 1775N. Hampsh. Prov. Papers (1873) VII. 425 Provided there can be more built at an easier Lay than in the country by the company. 1792B. Marston in N. Eng. Hist. & Gen. Register (1873) XXVII. 399, I am engaged to go out with a large Company..[to Africa] as their Land Surveyor General, on a pretty good lay. 1816Pickering Vocab. U.S., Lay, terms or conditions of a bargain; price. Ex. I bought the articles at a good lay; he bought his goods on the same lay that I did mine. A low word. New England. 1856Peter Gott (Bartlett), He took in his fish at such a lay, that he made a good profit on them.
6. slang. A line or plan of business, occupation, adventure, etc.; a (particular) job, ‘line’, or ‘tack’: often in phr. on (a certain) lay.
1707Farquhar Beaux Strat. iii. iii, Cou'd I bring her to a Bastard, I shou'd have her all to my self; but I dare not put it upon that Lay, for fear of being sent for a Soldier. 1715Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 97 To distinguish myself from the refusers upon a Jacobite lay. 1721Cibber School-boy iii. Dram. Wks. 1754 I. 23 The Puppy will play, tho' he knows no more of the Lay than a Milkwoman. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) I. 174, I first set them on the lay. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xvi, I shall be on that lay nae mair. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xxii, He's not to be found on his old lay. 1858Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt I. lii. 201 It is a sad thing for a great country..to have taken to the filibustering lay. If the word is from the vocabulary of thieves, to the conduct of thieves it is appropriate. 1876Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly xxxiv, For a year or two he wrote poetry. But the papers in America, he found, were in a league against genius. So he gave up that lay.
7. a. The way, position, or direction in which something is laid or lies (esp. said of country); disposition or arrangement with respect to something. (Cf. lie n.)
1819Sporting Mag. V. 50 The correctness of their [dogs'] judgment on the lay of the country. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 647 Where the corn has a decided lean in one direction, the machine, if worked against the lay of the straw, meets with the requisite resistance. 1864Thoreau Maine W. iii. (1869) 163, I did not know the exact route myself, but steered by the lay of the land. 1867F. Francis Angling v. (1880) 174 If the angler pulls against the..lay of the weed. 1878H. M. Stanley Dark Cont. I. xvi. 434 Seams of white quartz travelled along the lay of the strata. 1886Walsingham & Payne-Gallwey Shooting I. 89 The lay of a gun to the shoulder when aimed depends..upon the ‘cast off’ and slope of the heel-plate.
b. Naut. Of a rope: The direction or amount of twist given to the strands. (Cf. lay v. 37.) Also in Spinning (see quot. 1851).
1800Capt. Harvey in Naval Chron. XII. 195, I was inclined to attribute this defect to the soft lay of the cable. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1071 In no one instance has a rope or cable thus formed, been found defective in the lay. 1851L. D. B. Gordon in Art Jrnl. Catal. Gt. Exhib. v**/2 In the bobbin and fly-frames, the amount of lay, or quantity of twist given to the roving, is as little as is compatible with their being unwound without impairing their uniformity. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 2 By taking a half hitch round and against the lay of the rope.
c. Printing. The arrangement of type in the case from which a compositor takes it; in full, lay of the case; also = lay gauge.
[1683–4Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing (1962) 194 The manner how the several sorts of Letters are disposed in the several Boxes, is called, Laying of the Case.] 1871Amer. Encycl. Print. (ed. Ringwalt), Lay of the Case, the system upon which the various letters, points, spaces, quadrats, etc., are distributed among the different boxes in a case. 1884J. Gould Letter-Press Printer (ed. 3) 29, I give the following illustration of the upper-case as it is most commonly laid. In some offices, however, the ‘lay’ is quite different. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab., Lay, this refers to the position of the print on a sheet of paper. 1915Southward's Mod. Printing (ed. 3) I. xxvi. 150 A printed plan of the case..will also be useful to experienced compositors, for there are many variations of the lay to be found in printing offices. Ibid. II. iv. 45 The Feed or Laying-on Board is, in the Wharfedale machine, at the base of the cylinder... On the front of the board are the gauges, or ‘lays’, to which the sheet of paper is laid. 1946A. Monkman in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding ii. 20/1 There is no standardized lay in this country although the variations are in the main only concerned with such characters as the ligatures.., figures, and lower-case k and q. 1946V. S. Ganderton in Ibid. xi. 142/1 Lays, sheet-bands, grippers, and wheels shall be in identical positions on the sheet... If..the register is out along the grip edge, the fault may be due to the front lays lifting too early or too late. 1969Studies in Bibliogr. XXII. 125 (title) The lay of the case. Ibid., The single lay, as used for instance in Germany and Switzerland, employs one large case for a fount of type. 1970E. A. D. Hutchings Survey of Printing Processes 199 Lays, machine, the points against which a sheet is positioned on the machine prior to impression taking place. 1972P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 36 Lays for exotic founts were usually adaptations of those used for the Latin alphabet.
d. A woman who is readily available for sexual intercourse; an act of sexual intercourse. slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. lay v.1 2 b.
1932J. T. Farrell in Story Mar.–Apr. 46 A foursome passed homeward; two of the group were girls whom Jack and George agreed were swell lays. 1934J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) vi. 159 If there was ever an easy lay she was it. 1936J. Dos Passos Big Money 254 There never been a girl got a spoken word by givin' that fourflusher a lay. 1955W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. i. 317 She's the girl you used to go around with in college? She's a good lay. 1955G. Greene Quiet American ii. iii. 173 You'll just keep her as a comfortable lay until you leave. 1958E. Dundy Dud Avocado iii. vi. 266 Roving photographer..blows into town on the lookout for a quick lay. 1962Listener 9 Aug. 223/3 His characters are without perspective: engrossed completely in their own lives, hardly seeing..beyond the next drink, the next lay, the next five pounds. 1971B. Malamud Tenants 16 Tonight an unexpected party, possibly a lay with a little luck.
8. A share in a venture; esp. in Whaling, the proportion of the proceeds of a voyage which is allotted to a man.
on a lay, on shares (Cent. Dict.). Also, by the lay (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867).
1850Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. iii. (1859) 35 With eager hope to obtain the oily material wherewith to..make good their ‘lay’. 1859Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XX. i. 113 Every one on board..has ‘a lay’ in the venture. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. i. iii. (1881) 47 On American whaling ships the custom is not to pay fixed wages, but a ‘lay’, or proportion of the catch. 1898F. T. Bullen Cruise ‘Cachalot’ iv. (1900) 33 Each of us was on the two hundredth ‘lay’..which means that for every two hundred barrels taken on board, we were entitled to one.
9. in (good, full) lay: laying eggs.
1885Bazaar 30 Mar. 1267/3, 4 pullets, in full lay.
10. concr. (See quot.)
1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. Gloss., Lay, a strip of leather, which is sewed on the top of another that is broader, for the purpose of additional strength, or to confine a smaller buckle.
11. Comb.: lay-edge Printing, the edge of a sheet of paper which is used to determine the correct position of the sheet in a press; lay gauge, an attachment on a printing press that keeps the paper in the correct position; † lay-layer, an assessor of rates.
1892A. Powell Southward's Pract. Printing (ed. 4) I. 444 Turn over the sheet..and place it upon the feeding or laying-on board, with the same lay-edge towards the grippers as before. 1946V. S. Ganderton in H. Whetton Pract. Printing & Binding xi. 143/2 An untrimmed lay edge is an unknown quantity, and no two sheets stand up to the lays in the same way if they have a feather edge. For exact work, paper should always be trimmed.
1892A. Powell Southward's Pract. Printing (ed. 4) xlix. 434 Now set the lay gauges on the machine, so that the paper when fed to these will..occupy the right position on the cylinder to receive the impression where it is intended to be. 1961T. Landau Encycl. Librarianship (ed. 2) 190/1 Lay edges. The edges of a sheet of paper which are laid against the front and side lay gauges of a printing or folding machine.
1669in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 328 The common assessors or Leylayers of this towne.
Add:[8.] b. N. Amer. In Placer Mining, a lease to work a claim for a percentage of the proceeds. Freq. const. on. Now Hist.
1898Yukon Midnight Sun (Dawson, Yukon Territory) 11 June 1/2 Some of these lay holders say they have not made wages. 1908I. Beebe True Life Story Sweetwater Bill Gales viii. 74 Sweetwater..took a lay on a claim on Dexter Creek and cleaned up. Ibid. ix. 81 He took the money that he made from the lay on Dexter Creek and spent it gambling. 1927H. Young Hall Young of Alaska 352 Hundreds of chechacos had taken ‘lays’ along that creek and were putting down holes here and there in hope of finding a pay streak. The royalty on these lays received by the owners varied from thirty to seventy-five per cent of the gross output, according to the prospects of the claim. 1943W. H. Chase Sourdough Pot xii. 72 [They] endeavored to get lays on claims already located. That is, to work a part of a claim on shares, or a percentage basis. 1965S. G. Lawrence 40 Yrs. on Yukon Telegraph iii. 19 Lays on claims vary according to the owners. In this deal I keep seventy per cent of the gold I take out and the owner gets thirty per cent.
[9.] point-of-lay: see point n.1 D. 16.
▪ VIII. lay, n.8 dial.|leɪ|
[var. lathe n.3 and n.4]
1. Weaving. The batten of a loom; = lathe n.4
1789A. Wilson in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) I. 16 The palefaced weaver plies the resounding lay. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 412 The lay which carries the reed, is hung from a bar. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. i. 44 The batten or lay by which the weft-thread is driven up close. 1892J. M. Barrie Little Minister iii. 20 The lay still swung at little windows like a great ghost pendulum.
b. Comb.: lay-cap, a wooden bar which lies on the top of the reed and is held by the workman in working the lay; lay-race (see quot. 1855).
The comb. lay-rod, lea-rod, in some Dicts., referred to this word, is an incorrect form of lease-rod: see lease n.4, and cf. lea n.4
1831G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 217 A top piece having a longitudinal groove along its lower side which is called the *lay-cap. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1287 The lay-cap..is the part of the lay which the hand-loom weaver seizes with his hand, in order to swing it towards him.
1855Ogilvie Suppl., *Lay-race, that part of the lay on which the shuttle travels from one side to the other of the web.
2. Used for lathe n.3 2.
In parts of Scotland, the turning lathe is still called lay.
1797Godwin in C. K. Paul Life (1876) I. 259 The potters we saw in the morning, turning a wheel, or treading a lay.
▪ IX. lay, a. (and n.9)|leɪ|
Also 5–6 laye, 6 leye, laii, 5–7 laie, 6–7 lai.
[a. F. lai (now replaced by the learned form laïque):—eccl.L. lāicus, a. Gr. λᾱϊκός (cf. laic). Cf. MDu. leec (Du. leek), OHG. leigo (MHG. leige, leie, mod.G. laie) layman.]
A. adj.
1. Of persons: Belonging to the ‘people’ as contradistinguished from the clergy; not in orders, non-clerical.
When prefixed to official titles, the adj. is often hyphened.
c1330[see B]. 1432–50[see layman]. c1440Jacob's Well 34 Alle relygious men, þat to leryd or to lay-folk..mynystren ony of þise in sacramentys. 1481Caxton Godfrey xv. 42 The maners of the Clergye and of the laye peple. 1550Crowley Inform. & Petit. 4 The laie and priuate persons ar as well of the flocke of Christe as the other. 1577Colet Fruitf. Admon. 5 If thou be lay and vnmaried. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. ii. iii. 52 Neither did the first Nicene councel..think it any robbery to require the help..of many learned lay brethren, as they were then called. 1651C. Cartwright Cert. Relig. i. 76 It is erroneous..that a Lay⁓man (as your Lay-Chancellour) should excommunicate and deliver up soules to Sathan. 1654H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 186 No Convocation having power to grant any Subsidies, or aid without confirmation from the Lay-Senate. 1717Berkeley Jrnl. Tour Italy 8 Jan., Wks. 1871 IV. 514 A good number of gentlemen, lay as well as ecclesiastic. 1766Gray Corr. N. Nicholls (1843) 65 Ansel is lately dead, a lay-fellow of your college. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 68 A general prescription de non decimando can no more be set up against a lay impropriator than against a spiritual person. 1820Scott Monast. xiii, [A] mill, erected on the lands of a lay-baron. 1873Hamerton Intell. Life xi. i. (1875) 398 A powerful lay element is certainly separating itself from the ecclesiastical element all over Europe. 1893Globe 1 July 6/4 The Lay Helpers' Association of the diocese of London.
2. Characteristic of, connected or concerned with, occupied or performed by, laymen or the laity.
1609Bible (Douay) II. Index, Laiheadshippe of the Church is rejected by most Heretiques, and by al Catholiques. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iv. 11 Had the Cardinall But halfe my Lay-thoughts in him. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Ad Sec. xi. 25 It cannot hallow a Lay designe, and make it fitt to become a religious ministery. 1675in Parl. Hist. (1808) IV. 783 This bribing men by drink is a lay simony. 1750Carte Hist. Eng. II. 129 These were levelled against lay-patronages, and the prohibitions of secular Courts. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 458 Lay corporations are of two sorts, civil and eleemosynary. 1767Ibid. II. 61 The four kinds of lay tenure which subsisted in England, till the middle of the last century. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 371 With reverend tutor clad in habit lay. 1816Coleridge (title), The Statesman's Manual..A lay Sermon, addressed to the higher classes of society. 1867Trollope Last Chron. Barset II. xlvii. 31 The bishop strove to get up a little lay conversation.
3. Transferred senses.
†a. Uninstructed, unlearned. Obs. rare.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 171 Lered men and lay, fre and bond of toune. 1535Coverdale Acts iv. 13 They sawe the boldnesse of Peter & Ihon and marueyled for they were sure yt they were vnlerned and laye people.
b. Non-professional, not expert, esp. with reference to law and medicine.
1810Bentham [see gent n.]. 1826― in Westm. Rev. Oct. 457 Lay-gents however..will..see a convenience in it. 1861Maine Anc. Law (1874) 31 A mine of law unrevealed to the bar and to the lay-public. 1883W. A. Jevons in Law Times 27 Oct. 431/2 Lay legislators..jumped to the conclusion that [etc.]. 1892Law Times XCIV. 171/2 There is a natural confusion in the lay mind between a trustee and an executor. 1897J. W. Clark Barnwell p. lxvii, The prevention of disease, as well as the cure of it, is too technical for lay interference.
†c. Unhallowed, unsanctified; unspiritual, secular, worldly, esp. in phr. lay part. Obs.
1609Bible (Douay) 1 Sam. xxi. 4, I have no lay breads [Vulg. laicos panes] at hand, but only holy bread. a1613Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 49 That goodly frame we see of flesh and blood..it is I say But their Lay-part; but well digested food. 1615T. Adams Spir. Navig. 40 We see but the lay-part of things with these opticke organs. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Priesthood x, Exchanging my lay-sword For that of th' holy word. a1668Sir W. Waller Div. Medit. (1839) 58 Thou hast shewed mercy to my worldly part, to my lay part; O heal my spiritual part.
4. Special collocations. lay abbot (see quot.). lay analysis, psychoanalysis undertaken by an analyst who has not been medically trained; so lay analyst, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, one who practises psychoanalysis without medical training. lay baptism, baptism administered by a layman. lay bishop, † (a) applied derisively to those who set up as teachers of morality; (b) a playful term for a lay-rector. lay brother, a man who has taken the habit and vows of a religious order, but is employed mostly in manual labour and is exempt from the studies or choir-duties required of the other members. † lay chattels [AF. lai chatel] (see quot.). lay clerk, (a) a ‘singing man’ in a cathedral or collegiate church; (b) a parish clerk: see clerk n. 2 b. lay communion, (a) the condition of being in communion with the Church as a layman; (b) the communicating of the laity in the Eucharist. lay deacon, a man in deacon's orders who devotes only part of his time to religious ministrations, while following a secular employment. lay elder (see elder n.3 4); hence lay-eldership. lay judge, a judge who is not a lawyer (Cent. Dict.). lay lord, a peer who is not a lawyer; opposed to law lord. lay pope, a layman who assumes the authority of a pope. lay preacher, an unordained preacher, esp. among Methodists. † lay presbyter, ? = ‘lay elder’; hence lay presbytery. lay reader, (a) a layman licensed to conduct religious services; (b) a reader of a book, etc., on a subject of which he has no professional or specialist knowledge. lay rector (see rector). lay sister, the analogue in a female religious order of a lay brother. lay vicar (see vicar). See also lay-fee.
1872Gloss. Eccl. Terms (ed. Shipley), s.v. Abbot, *Lay-Abbot, a layman in possession of abbey property. Called also Abbot Non-religious.
1927Internat. Jrnl. Psycho-Anal. VIII. 174 The Central Executive of the International Psycho-Analytical Association informs us it is their intention to bring forward the question of ‘*Lay Analysis’ at the next Congress, so that opinions may be heard and, so far as possible, decisions arrived at in the matter. 1928A. P. Maerker-Branden tr. Freud's Probl. Lay-Analyses i. 25 Let me, therefore, state that the problem of Lay-Analyses expresses itself most succinctly in the question of whether medically untrained laymen should be permitted to practise psychoanalysis. Ibid. viii. 171 As soon as the physician has ascertained this, he may safely leave the treatment to the *lay-analyst. 1955M. McCarthy Charmed Life (1956) ii. 36 He had been..a lay analyst.
1726Ayliffe Parerg. 105 Such Priests as question'd the Validity of *Lay-Baptism.
1693Dryden 3rd Miscell. Ded., Those *lay-bishops, as some call them, who, under pretence of reforming the stage, would intrude themselves upon us, as our superiors. 1870L'Estrange Miss Mitford I. ii. 58 The Colonel [Beaumont] is the patron,..he is what they call a lay bishop, and still receives the tributary pence from the communicants.
14..in Mirr. our Ladye p. xxi, I N. N. broþer professyd in the order & degre of a *lay brother or ffocary. 1679Trials of Wakeman, etc. 34 He is a Benedictine Monk, or at least⁓wise a Lay Brother. 1743Pope's Dunciad iv. 576 note, ‘A Gregorian, one a Gormogon’, A sort of Lay-brothers, Slips from the Root of the Free-masons. 1865Kingsley Herew. i. (1875) 39 He dismounted, and halloed to a lay brother to see to his horse.
1618Selden Tithes ii. 13 After those Tenths thus disposed of the remnant of that yeers increase they called {hebnunfin}ינ{hebcheth}ות{hebmem} {hebnunfin}י{heblamed}ו{hebcheth} that is, as if you should say, euery way prepared or fit for common vse, or absolutely *Lay Chattels.
1811Busby Dict. Mus., *Lay-Clerk, a vocal officiate in a cathedral, who takes part in the services and anthems, but is not of the priesthood. 1877Lee Gloss. Liturg. & Eccl. Terms, Lay clerk,..a layman who in the Church of England, by the tacit consent of the bishop or ordinary, or by the direct authority of the parish priest, assists in divine service. 1892J. C. Blomfield Hist. Heyford 17 He was fulfilling the office of lay-clerk in that parish.
1680Allen Peace & Unity Postscr. 149 Their concession touching the Lawfulness of *Lay-Communion with our Parish Churches. 1847Card. Wiseman Ess., Unreality Angl. Belief (1853) II. 406 The Host given in lay-communion. 1880W. Smith & Cheetham Dict. Chr. Antiq. II. 947 Offences which in a lay⁓man were punished by ἀϕορισµός,..were in the clergy punished by reduction to ‘lay communion’.
1861M. Arnold Pop. Educ. France 117 If the National schools of England were taught by an order of *lay deacons. 1884Sat. Rev. 12 July 49/2 The proposed scheme of starting a new order of ministers in the Church of England under the strangely paradoxical designation..of ‘lay-deacons’.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. Pref. §4. 22 The power of your *lay elders. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xvii. 314 Each parish had its minister, lay-elder, and deacon.
1641Smectymnuus Vind. Answ. xv. 185 Al patrons of *Layeldership.
1863H. Cox Instit. ii. vi. 481 Certain *lay lords expressed an intention of voting, but ultimately, on the recommendation of the law lords, with⁓drew.
1826W. E. Andrews Rev. Foxe's A. & M. II. 179 The mere tools of the royal *lay-pope.
1747Wesley Wks. (1872) II. 67 He expressed the most rooted prejudice against *Lay-Preachers. 1790J. Wesley Works (1872) IV. 493 Joseph Humphrys; the first Lay Preacher that assisted me in England, in the year 1738. 1823A. Clarke Mem. Wesley Family 34 From this conversation we learn..that he was a lay-preacher. 1906‘Mark Twain’ What is Man? (1917) iii. 31 In the Adirondack woods is a wage-earner and lay preacher in the lumber camps. 1962H. Davies Worship & Theol. in England IV. ix. 258 John Nelson..one of Wesley's most trusted lay preachers. 1975R. Lewis Double Take ii. 58 He..was a Methodist lay preacher and a supporter of good causes.
a1663Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. Pref. 7 Where are your *lay-presbyters, your classes, &c. to be found in Scripture?
1640Bp. Hall Episc. iii. ii. 224 Wheresoever they finde mention of an Elder in the New Testament, [they] think presently of a *Lay-Presbytery.
1958‘J. Bell’ Seeing Eye xiv. 147 He has been more successful as a *lay psychiatrist than he has as a general practitioner.
1933Harper's Mag. Jan. 186/1 A lay *psycho-analyst finds that the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson was a product of Jefferson's infantile revolt against his father.
1883Official Year-bk. Ch. Eng. 110 The importance..of recognizing the assistance of *Lay Readers, and of assigning them their proper place in the service of the Church... The office of Lay Reader is also fully recognized in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 1885W. James Coll. Ess. & Rev. (1920) 282 To the lay-reader, this absolute Idealism doubtless seems insubstantial and unreal enough. 1907― Pragmatism ii. 74 Farther than that the ordinary lay-reader in philosophy..does not venture to sharpen his conceptions. 1912Motor 17 Dec. 980/1 The subject matter is..written in a manner easily understood by the lay reader. 1947Mind LVI. 156 This is done in so compressed and allusive a manner that..the lay reader could scarcely be expected to grasp it adequately.
1709Steele Tatler No. 129 ⁋4 Whether the Ladies so called are Nuns or *Lay-Sisters. 1825Scott Betrothed xvii, Her cellaress, her precentrix, and the lay-sisters of the kitchen.
5. Comb., as † lay-conceited, lay-minded adjs.
1613Sir H. Finch Law (1636) To Rdr., The very phrase, the termes of Art, excluding all hope of accrue to Lay-conceited opinions. 1898S. Evans Holy Graal 134 We Englishmen of today, a lay-minded folk much misguided of philosophic historians.
†B. absol. and n. The lay people, laity; also, a layman. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 100 Þe kyng in þe courte of þe lay þe clerkes wild justise. c1511Colet in Lupton Life (1887) 302 The clergies..part ones reformed..than may we with a iuste order procede to the reformation of the lays [ed. 1661 laities; L. laicalis] part. 1528Tindale Obed. Chr. Man 40 b, What other thynge causeth the laye so litle to regarde there princes, as that they se them both dispised and disobeyed of the spiritualte? c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1020 All the men..as well clerkes & lays. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 76 Men of the laye. 1602Warner Alb. Eng. ix. l. (1612) 227 From the Laie the Scriptures light to hide. c1616B. Jonson Epigr. cxxxi. Wks. (1616) 813 The learn'd haue no more priuiledge then the lay. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. iv. Wks. 1851 V. 181 Sparing neither Preist nor Lay. 1680G. Hickes Spirit of Popery 23 They were Priviledged to come to the Altar, when all other Laies were forbidden.
Add:[3.] [b.] Also with reference to trade unions. (Later examples.)
1980Times 10 Apr. 1/3 Lay delegates on the Transport and General Workers' Union national bus committee, representing about 140,000 busmen. 1986ASTMS Industry News Spring 1/3 We have sent delegations from our Parliamentary Committee, together with lay representatives from Westland, to the Ministry of Defence.
▪ X. lay, v.1|leɪ|
Pa. tense and pple. laid |leɪd|. inf.: 1 lecgan, lecgean, 2–5 legge(n, 6–7 (sense 1 c) ledge, 3–5 leyn, 4 lein, lain, leye, lai, 4–5 leyne, leie, 4–6 laye, ley, 5 leyen, 6 Sc. la, 6–7 laie, 4– lay. ind. pres.: sing. 1st pers. 1 lecge, 4 legge, leye (etc.), 4– lay. 2nd pers. 1 leᵹest, 3 leist, 6 lay'st, 6– layest. 3rd pers. α. 1 leᵹ(e)ð, 2 leiᵹð, 3 leggeð, leiȝeð, 3–4 leið, 4 layþ, leyþ, leggiþ, 4–5 leieþ, 5–6 layth, 6 laieth, 4– (now arch.) layeth. β. 4–7 layes, lais, 5 legges, 7 laies, 4– lays. pl. α. 1 lecgaþ, lecgeaþ, 3 leggeoð, leggeð, leið. β. 3–6 laye, 4 leyn, lein, leye, leie, 5 leyhe, 6 laie, 4– lay. γ. Sc. and north. 5 layez, 6 layis. ind. pa.: sing. 1st and 3rd pers. 1 leᵹde, læᵹde, léde, 2 leiᵹde, 2–3 læide, 2–5 leide, 3 leaide, Orm. leȝȝde, 3–6 leyde, 4 leid, legged, lait, Sc. lad, 4–5 lade, 4–7 laide, 4–8 layd(e, 5 leyd, leged, leghed, layid, 5–7 layed, laied, 7–8 lay'd, 4– laid. pl. 1 leᵹdon, læᵹdon, leidon, 2–3 læiden, 2–4 leiden, 3 ledden, 4 laiden, 4–5 leyden, 5 laidon; also (in 4 and subsequently) as 1st and 3rd pers. sing. imp.: sing. 1 leᵹe, 3 Orm. leȝȝ, 3–5 ley, leie, 4 leye, 5 le, 6 laye, 4– lay. pl. 1 lecgaþ, 3–4 leggeþ, 4 leiþ, 4– lay. β. north. and Sc. 4 laes, lays, lais. gerund: 4–6 layeng, 5 legginge, legynge, 6 (sense 1 c) ledging, 5 leying, leiyng, leyng, 5–6 layng(e, 6 laieng, laiyng, 6–7 layeing, 4– laying. pres. pple.: α. 1 lecgende, 4 north. and Sc. leyond, layand. β. (as in the Gerund). pa. pple.: 1 ᵹeléd, ᵹeleiᵹd, 3 ileid, yleid, ilæid, Orm. leȝȝd, 3–5 leid(e, leyd, 4 ylaid(e, ylayde, leyde, 4–5 yleyd, 4–6 layde, 4–7 laide, layed, 4–8 layd, 5 ilaid, leied, leyed, led, 6 layede, (sense 1 c) ledgde, 6–7 laied, 7 lai'd, 7–8 lay'd, 4– laid.
[OE. lęcgan = OFris. ledsa, lega, leia, OS. leggian (Du. leggen), OHG. lecken, legen (MHG., mod.G. legen), ON. legja (Sw. lägga, Da. lægge), Goth. (= OTeut.) lagjan, f. *lag- ablaut-variant of OTeut. *leg-: see lie v.
The normal representative of the OE. inf. and of the 1st pers. sing. and the plural pres. tense, would be *ledge; the existing form of the present-stem is evolved from the 2nd and 3rd pers. sing. pres. tense, in which the g of the OTeut. vb. was followed not by j but by i, and therefore escaped the WGer. gemination, so that OE. in these instances has g instead of cg.]
General sense: To cause to lie.
I. To prostrate.
1. a. trans. To bring or cast down from an erect position (in OE. often, to strike down, slay); † fig. to cast down, abase, humble. Now only with complement denoting prostration or extension upon a surface. to lay low: see the adj.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. (Sedgefield) xli. §3 He..hæt fealdan þæt seᵹl & eac hwilum lecgan þone mæst. a1000Laws of Athelstan ii. c. 2 (Schmid) Hine lecge for þeof se ðe him tocume. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 165 Al riht is leid and wogh arered. 13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 1650 Who-so hym lyked to lyfte, on lofte watz he sone, & quo-so hym lyked to lay, watz loȝed bylyue. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 359 [He] cauȝte hym bi the myddel, For to lifte hym alofte and leyde him on his knowes. c1440Partonope 7007, I leyd hym flatt than in the med. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 399 Shall we..lay this Angiers euen with the ground? 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 6 With a mortall wound on the forehead [he] laid him dead at his feete. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 332 A multitude with Spades and Axes arm'd To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill. 1785Cowper Poplar Field 7 And now in the grass behold they are laid, And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade! 1850Tait's Mag. XVII. 754/1 The abbey was laid in ruins by the explosion. 1879Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 95 We check the fire by laying flat Each building in its path. 1890Guardian 24 Sept. 1486/1 One third of the town was laid in ashes.
†b. to lay to ground, lay to earth (Sc. lay at eird): to stretch upon or bring to the ground; to bring low, throw down, overthrow, destroy. Obs.
c1205Lay. 27328 We heom scullen awelden leggen heom to grunde. c1330Arth. & Merl. 5086 (Kölbing) Hou Wawain & his feren..Hadden..þre þousand leyd to grounde. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 16 And weill ost..War layd at erd, but recoveryng. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. x, At the fourth passage there mette two for two, and bothe were leid vnto the erthe. 1513Douglas æneis xi. xiii. 62 Mony Troianis ded to ground scho laid.
c. Of wind or rain: To beat down (crops). Chiefly in pass. (In 16–17th c. spelt ledge.)
1590Plain Perc. 21 Send not a whirlwinde amongst them, least..they..be ledgde on the ground. 1613R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Cadence..properly the ledging of corne by a tempest. 1626[see laying vbl. n. 1]. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., The Rain has laid the Corn, la Pluye a couché les Bleds. 1787Winter Syst. Husb. 63 The straw grows so luxuriant, as to be beaten down and laid by high winds and heavy rains. 1799A. Young Agric. Linc. 162 If laid, it [sc. flax] will not do for seed. 1846Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. ii. 288 It bore wheat again,..but the weather of July laid it. 1859Tennyson Geraint 764 Yniol with that hard message went; it fell Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. 1870Ramsay Remin. ii. (ed. 18) 26 The crops being much laid.
2. a. To ‘bring to bed’ of a child; to deliver (a mother). Obs. exc. dial. † Also refl. said of the mother. (Cf. 53 c.)
c1460Towneley Myst. xiii. 520 And gyll, my wyfe, rose nott here syn she lade hir. 1605Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 56 Item given to the hird of Pittington for layinge a hogge, ijd. 1669Plymouth Col. Rec. (1856) V. 14, I went to her father Winters house..as I was informed of her being laid; and shee haueing a young child in her lapp, I asked her whoe was the father of it. 1682Bunyan Holy War 168 The midwife that laid my mother of me. 1684Lady R. Russell Lett. I. xvii. 50, I hear my Lady Digby is safely laid of a girl. 1716C'tess Cowper Diary (1864) 126 The English Ladies all pressed to have the Princess laid by Sir David Hamilton. 1724J. Maubray (title) Female Physician Comprehending..particular directions for laying women, in all cases of difficult and preternatural births. 1828Carr Craven Dial., Lay, Lig, to perform the office of an accoucheur. ‘He com to lay my daam’. 1876in Whitby Gloss.
b. To have sexual intercourse with (a woman). Occas. intr., const. for: (of a woman) to have sexual intercourse with (a man). Also intr.: (of a woman) to be willing to have (extramarital) sexual intercourse. slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. lay n.7 7 d.
1934J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra ii. 38 I'm going to take Teddy out and get him laid tonight. Ibid. vii. 212 ‘You're wrong about one thing,’ said Julian... ‘I didn't lay that girl.’ 1936J. Dos Passos Big Money 305 ‘Gosh,’ he was saying at the back of his head, ‘maybe I could lay Elsie Finnegan.’ 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock v. v. 214 I'm marrying her for your sake, but I'm laying her for my own. 1950A. Wilson Such Darling Dodos 123 As soon as he laid a new wench..there was always a shift round of staff. 1955‘H. Robbins’ Stone for Danny Fisher i. vii. 55 ‘Does she lay, Danny?’.. His face was flushed as his eyes followed the girl on to the porch. 1956H. Gold Man who was not with It (1965) xviii. 164 Whore! Baby⁓whore! She been laying for you. 1960J. Updike Rabbit, Run (1961) 184 You've laid for Harrison, haven't you? 1966Auden About House 15 A great-great-grandmother who got laid By a sacred beast. 1969P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 182 All I know is I got laid, twice. 1973B. Broadfoot Ten Lost Years viii. 83 The guy who knew her was one of our gang and he was laying her.
3. a. To cause to subside (the sea, a tempest, a cloud of dust, etc.); † to put a stop to (an annoyance) (obs.); to allay (anxiety), appease (anger, appetite, etc.). Now arch. or dial. exc. in to lay the dust.
a1300E.E. Psalter lxxxiv. 4 Þou leyed alle þi wreth þat þou was inne. c1340Cursor M. 5990 (Trin.) To morwe shul þo fliȝes be leide. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. vi. (1495) 112 Yf the eye lyddes..ben full of flesshe wythin..thenne he layeth the syghte [L. visum impediunt]. c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 1782 If ye me doo as ye me seid, A grete part of my care is leid. 1508Dunbar Flyting w. Polwart 96 Ȝit come I hame, fals baird, to lay thy boist. 1539Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 4 Moue not an euyll that is well layed. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 25 Terpandrus with his notes layeth the tempest. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iii. 35 See how I lay the dust with my teares. a1645Laud Serm. (1847) 127 To show His disciples that His command could lay the sea. 1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres iv. 77 This report he was so farre from sleighting..that he laid it, before it could passe out of Spain. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 429 Who..still'd the roar Of thunder, chas'd the clouds, and laid the winds. 1695Blackmore Pr. Arth. i. 307 Th' enchanted Winds straightway their Fury laid. 1712Addison Spect. No. 465 ⁋1 The doubt which was laid revives again. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 60 He upon his coming over did for some time lay the heats that were among the Highlanders. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay the Stomach for a while, etourdir la grosse faim. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxii. 308 ‘It was merely to lay the dust’, said Bell, as though she had ordered the shower. 1879Farrar St. Paul I. 181 To lay the secret misgivings which had begun to rise in his mind. 1891Rutland Gloss. s.v., ‘The bit of fish as you sent me laid my appetite’. 1900Q. Rev. Apr. 459 These fears ought now to be laid.
b. To prevent (a spirit) from ‘walking’. Often in fig. context.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. i. 26 To raise a spirit in his Mistresse circle,..letting it stand Till she had laid it, and coniured it downe. 1678Butler Hud. iii. ii. 466 For nothing but his Interest Could lay his Devil of Contest. 1706Estcourt Fair Example iii. i, When the Devil is up in a Woman, the wisest way is to lay it. 1716Addison Drummer ii. i, He knows the secret of laying ghosts or of quieting houses that are haunted. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xcvi. 16 He faced the spectres of the mind And laid them. 1851D. Jerrold St. Giles xvi. 162 With a strong will, he laid the rising ghosts of his boyish days. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. i. 170, I remember his being called upon to lay a troublesome ghost.
4. † To bring down, reduce (a swelling) (obs.); to smooth down, make to lie evenly.
1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Oct. 119 When my Gates shall han their bellies layd: Cuddie shall haue a Kidde to store his farme. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 185 This will lay some blisters, and prevent others rising. 1892Leisure Hour Nov. 72/2 Silk hats are ‘renovated’ by brushing them round smoothly with a wet brush to lay the nap.
5. Naut. To sail out to such a distance as to bring (an object) to or below the horizon. (Opposed to raise.)
1574Bourne Regiment for Sea xiii. (1577) 39 a, In going to the North, you doe rayse the Pole, and lay the Equinoctiall. 1711Milit. & Sea Dict., To Lay the Land. When they have sail'd out of Sight of Land, they say, they have Laid the Land. 1711Lond. Gaz. No. 4887/3 We chased them till Ten, at which time we had laid their Hulls. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Laying the Land, in navigation, the state of motion which increases the distance from the coast, so as to make it appear lower and smaller;..used in contradistinction to raising the land.
6. Gardening. = layer v. 1 b. Also refl. of the plant. ? Obs.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Sterno, Vites stratæ, quæ & constratæ. Vines growyng close to the grounde, or layed or planted in the earth. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. July (1679) 21 You may lay Myrtils, Laurels, and other curious Greens. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), To Lay, in Gardening is to bend down the Branches, and cover them that they may take Root. 1707–12Mortimer Husb. ii. 185 The chief time of laying gilliflowers is in July. 1770Waring in Phil. Trans. LXI. 387 Inferiour plants, that sometimes, in the phrase of gardening, lay them⁓selves. 1822Loudon Encycl. Garden. §1646. 978 In that case the new plants [pinks] are not so well rooted as those layed earlier. 1851B'ham & Midl. Gardeners' Mag. May 68 Lay and peg your plants.
b. dial. ‘to lay a hedge, to trim it back, cutting the boughs half through, and then bending them down and intertwining them so as to strengthen the fence’ (Wiltsh. Gloss.).
1765Museum Rust. IV. 80 Making, plashing and laying live hedges. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 336 The fences..have been plashed and laid.
II. To deposit.
7. a. To place in a position of rest on the ground or any other supporting surface; to deposit in some situation specified by means of an adverb or phrase. † to lay lake: to offer sacrifice (quot. 1225).
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxi. 8 Hia ᵹeðurscon tuiggo of treum & ᵹebredon vel leᵹdon on weᵹ. c1175Lamb. Hom. 101 Ða ileaffullen brohton heore gersum, and leiden heo et þere apostlan fotan. c1200Moral Ode 12 in Trin. Coll. Hom., Alto muchel ic habbe ispend, to litel ileid on horde. c1200Ormin 14666 Sniþ itt, alls itt wære an shep, & leȝȝ itt upponn allterr. a1225Leg. Kath. 1895 Ȝef þu leist lac to ure liuiende godes. a1300Cursor M. 7186 Vp [Sampson] bar þe yatis o þe tun, And laid þam on a hei dun. c1350Will. Palerne 3234 Þat men miȝt legge him mete & wateren atte wille. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 429 He can it ta,..and syne it lade In his slefe. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 369 He was wont to legge his heed uppon a forme of þe chirche. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 186 Lymed leues were leyde all aboute. c1450Two Cookery-bks. 109 Take brede..and make it broune, and ley hit in vynegre. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xii. 14 Thornis laid in thy way. 1535Coverdale Lev. i. 8 Y⊇ peces..shal they laye vpon the wodd. 1582N. T. (Rhem.) Matt. viii. 20 The sonne of man hath not where to lay his head. [So 1611; earlier versions ‘rest’.] 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxiv. 394 Al the people did humble themselves, laying earth vpon their heads. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. July (1679) 21 If it prove too wet, lay your pots side-long. 1666Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual. 355, I had layd it upon a piece of white Paper by the fires side to dry. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 31 Laying a Ruler over the Intersections..draw the line GH. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 64 Plaister thou their chinky Hives with Clay, And leafy Branches o'er their Lodgings lay. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Commodus ii. 233 He layd the Book upon the Bed. 1838T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 676 Two pieces of paper..were laid upon each other, and allowed to dry. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 532 He had contrived to scatter lampoons about the terrace of Windsor, and even to lay them under the royal pillow.
b. To place documents containing information on the table (see table n. 5 b) in order to present the information to the members.
[1813Hansard Commons 17 Mar. 142 Mr. Whitbread then moved, that the Petition be laid upon the table; which was ordered accordingly.] 1923Westm. Gaz. 3 Aug., The Premier promised to lay all the correspondence, if M. Poincaré consents. 1924Hansard Commons 10 Mar. 1931 His Majesty's Government have been willing to lay the complete records, but objections have been raised. 1964Erskine May's Law of Parl. (ed. 17) xiii. 274 A similar order was made..in cases where a paper was laid under an Act that prescribed a period during which objection to it could be taken.
8. With mixture of sense 1.
a. To place (a person, one's limbs, oneself) in a recumbent posture in a specified place. to be laid: to lie down, recline († formerly sometimes without a specifying adv. or phrase).
c1200Ormin 3401 Þeȝȝ fundenn þær þe child Þær itt wass leȝȝd i cribbe. c1275Sinners Beware 284 in O.E. Misc. 81 Ye me..leyden in softe bedde. a1300Cursor M. 8604 (Cott.) Wimmen..Þat lais [MS. Trin. leyn] in bedd yong barn þam bi. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. B. 208 Whan I was leyd, and had myn eyen hed. c1475Partenay 2889 But slepe myght he noght when that he was led. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V, 80 Kyng Henry wexed sicker and sicker, and so was layd in a horselitter. a1598Peele Merrie Jests (c 1620) 13 With much ado her maid had her to bed, who was no sooner layd, but she fell fast asleepe. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 756 When he is laid, he careth not for rising again. a1701Sedley Pindaric Ode Wks. 1778 II. 17 The bleating sheep are laid; And on the earth the nightly dew distils. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 321 The coarse jollity of the afternoon was often prolonged till the revellers were laid under the table. 1849Aytoun Poems, Hermotimus ii, Fain I'd lay me gently by thy side. 1853M. Arnold Scholar-Gipsy iii, The bent grass where I am laid.
b. To deposit in the grave; to bury. Only with adv. or phrase indicating the place. to lay one's bones: to be buried (in a specified place).
c1000Ags. Gosp. John xx. 15 Seᵹe me hwar þu hine ledest [c 1160 Hatton Gosp. leydest]. 11..O.E. Chron. an. 1075 (Laud MS.) Se cyng hi let bryngan to Westmynstre..& læᵹde hi wið Eadward kyng hire hlaforde. c1175Lamb. Hom. 51 Efterþan þet þe mon bið dead, me leið þene licome in þere þruh. c1205Lay. 17842 Leggeð me an æst ænde inne Stan-henge. a1225Leg. Kath. 2251 We..þæt licome awei ledden & leiden in eorðe. c1250Gen. & Ex. 816 Fowre biried ðor ben; ðor was leid adam and eua, Abram siðen and sarra. a1300Cursor M. 17794 Lang es gan Sin þai war ded, laid vnder stan. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Katerine) 1179 Angelis..hire body bare to mont synay, & lait It þare. 1388Wyclif Acts xiii. 36 Dauid..diede, and was leid with hise fadris. a1400Prymer (1891) 50 Thei leyde hym in his graue. 1578W. Hunnis in Parad. Dainty Devices 2 After they be layde in graue. 1697Dryden æneis xi. 310 Part, in the Places where they fell, are laid. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 57 The Air so salubrious, that never any English are remembered to lay their Bones here. 1836W. Irving Astoria I. 121 My uncle was lost a few years ago on this same bar, and I am now going to lay my bones alongside of his. 1853M. Arnold Scholar-Gipsy xiv, Thou from earth art gone Long since, and in some quiet churchyard laid. 1879Morley Burke ix. 206 He was laid in the little church at Beaconsfield.
c. to lay to sleep, lay asleep: to put to rest; to put in the last resting-place, to bury; also fig. Also to lay to rest, † lay abed, † lay to bed.
a1300Cursor M. 14199 Lazar vr freind es laid on-slepe. 1340–70Alisaunder 823 Hee sawe..How þat louelich lif laide was a bedde, And a gracious God gripte hur in armes. c1400Destr. Troy 10410 Thai..logget þe long nyght, layd hom to rest. 1591Spenser Teares Muses 183 O! all is gone; and all that goodly glee..Is layd abed, and no where now to see. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 232 Royall Wench: She made great Cæsar lay his Sword to bed. 1610― Temp. ii. i. 284. 1676 Hobbes Iliad xiv. Table Contents, Juno by the help of Venus layeth Jove asleep. 1692tr. Sallust 33 Malice and Pride were laid asleep. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Commodus ii. 235 The Poyson soon layd him to sleep. 1814J. Hunter Who wrote Cavendish's Wolsey? 13 There is, in this, what might lay a general biographer, who was a very Argus, asleep. 1869A. W. Ward tr. Curtius' Hist. Greece II. ii. v. 112 He was laid to rest among his ancestors. 1881Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. x. 186 The questions springing out of the Toleration Act had long been laid asleep.
9. To produce and deposit (an egg). Also absol. Often in fig. contexts. Also fig. phr. to lay an egg, used in various colloq. senses, spec.: (a) (of an aircraft) to drop a bomb; (b) orig. U.S. (of a performer or performance) to flop.
c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 204 Henne æᵹru lecgan ᵹestreon mid carfulnysse ᵹe[tacnað]. a1225Ancr. R. 66 Þe hen hwon heo haueð ileid, ne con buten kakelen. 13..K. Alis. 568 A faukon..An ay he laide. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 583 Wiltow they oftyn hacche & eyron grete They legge. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §146 Thou must take hede how thy hennes duckes & gees do ley. 1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 9, I wold be loth to lay an egge, wherof other men might hatche a serpent. 1611Bible Isa. xxxiv. 15 There shall the great owle make her nest, and lay and hatch. 1678Butler Hud. iii. iii. 625 Like Nest-eggs, to make Clients lay. 1711Addison Spect. No. 120 ⁋14 When she has laid her Eggs in such a manner that she can cover them. 1780Cowper Progr. Err. 239 Remorse, the fatal egg by Pleasure laid In every bosom where her nest is made. 1830Marryat King's Own xli, One of the hens laid astray. 1841Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. II. i. 23 [They] lay their eggs in the bodies of other insects. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 19 Sept. 6/4 [Pheasants] lay freely in the thick coverts on the hillsides. 1918[see egg n. 3 d]. 1927Daily Express 2 June 11/2 ‘Laying an egg’ in Air Force slang means dropping a bomb. 1929Variety 30 Oct. 1 (headline) Wall Street lays an egg... The most dramatic event in the financial history of America is the collapse of the New York Stock Market. 1940J. O'Hara Pal Joey 38 You would just as well come wearing a shell if you ever took a job [singing] in a spot like this, that is how big an egg you would lay. 1947[see egg n. 3 d]. 1949L. Feather Inside Be-Bop iii. 30 The singer had been laying eggs at the Zanzibar..and Shaw was undecided what to do with him. 1958Spectator 6 June 730/2 The second gambit, when a joke is so drearily bad..that even a studio audience can't laugh at it, is to admit, quite shamelessly, that one has, as they say, laid an egg. 1964People (Austral.) 16 Dec. 45/1 A Stuka caught us in the town of Lamia. The plane duly laid an egg. I was crouched alongside a wall. The bomb landed on the other side of the wall.
†10. To deposit (payment). Obs. rare.
c1475Rauf Coilȝear 299 God forbid..That for ane nichtis harbery Pay suld be laid.
†11.
a. With advb. phr. as complement, e.g. to wed, to pledge, in pawn: To deposit as a pledge or in pawn; hence, to mortgage (lands). Also, to lay a wed. Obs.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8083 He..leide willam is broþer to wedde normandye. c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 205 They myghten lyghtly ley hire hede to borowe. 1377Langland P. Pl. B. xviii. 31 Lyf..leyth his lif to wedde, þat [etc.]. 1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 8 Þat þey leye a suffisaunt wed. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 6 Þe emperour had layd þam [þise relyques] in wedd for a grete soume of gold. 1461Paston Lett. No. 407 II. 33 A dyamaunt and a gret perle, which were leyd to plegge by oure fader. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xiii. 22 Sum bydand the law layis land in wed. 1530Palsgr. 603/1, I lay to morgage, as one dothe his herytage. a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxlvi. 552 Without..laynge to plegge any fote of londe pertenynge to my churche. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 246 b, That he laie to them againe in mortgage so mutch of hys owne landes. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 5, I haue beene content (Sir) you should lay my countenance to pawne. 1600Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 365 She layd part of her owne iewels..to gage. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 49 Ane thing is laid in wad to ane certaine day. 1698[R. Ferguson] View Eccles. 53 (61), I do pledge and lay my Word to pawn that [etc.].
†b. To give up as a hostage. Also, to lay a hostage. Obs.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 2476 My bodi þerfore in ostage I legge. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxxxviii. 110 He layed his sonne in hostage. a1533― Huon xiii. 37 Y⊇ kyng sayd that Huon muost lay hostage. Ibid. xviii. 51, I wyll thou layest vnto me good hostages. a1557Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne) 10 The next yeir therefter he was redeemit and his tua sones laid for him.
12. a. To put down or deposit as a wager; to stake, bet, or wager (a sum, one's head, life, etc.). Also to lay a wager.
a1300Floriz & Bl. 786 (Hausknecht) Ȝerne he wile þe bidde and preie, Þat þu legge þe cupe to pleie. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5598 A waiour dar y wyþ ȝow ley Þat [etc.]. c1320Sir Tristr. 678 Þai ȝolden me þat y layd. c1350Will. Palerne 2169, I der leye mi lif hit was þe liþer treytour. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ix. 291 Ich dar legge myn eres. 1404in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 36, I durste lae my hede, that [etc.]. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. ii. 145 Y dare avowe and dare leie what waiour eny man wole me forto leie, that [etc.]. 1530Palsgr. 602/1, I lay a nobyll agaynst a peny that it is nat so. 1573New Custom i. ii. B j, Harke Simplicitie hee is some preacher I wyll lay my gowne. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. v. 111. 1632 J. Pory in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 277 Hee would lay ten to one, the king was dead. 1711Steele Spect. No. 79 ⁋5 I'll lay what Wager she pleases against her present Favourite. 1784Cowper Tiroc. 863 Canst thou..Lay such a stake upon the losing side? 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1806) I. iv. 19 He spent his time in training horses, laying bets [etc.]. 1887Bowen Virg. Eclog. iii. 29 This heifer I lay thee lest thou decline..what stake for the coming battle is thine? 1891F. W. Robinson Her Love & His Life III. vi. iii. 135, I never lay wagers.
b. absol. or intr. To wager, bet.
In ME. poetry I lay, I dare lay is often used as little more than a riming expletive.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 2367 Of Charlemeyn ne his ferede nabbeþ þay non help, y legge. c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 166 There I seye Mo wonder thynges dar I leye. c1420Avow. Arth. xxxviii, Him is lefe I dar lay, To hald that he heȝte. c1470Golagros & Gaw. 95 Yhit ar thi latis vnlufsum and ladlike, I lay. 1535Coverdale Isa. xiv. 15 Yet darre I laye, yt thou shalt be brought downe to the depe of hell. 1677W. Hughes Man of Sin iii. i. 13 She offers a Wager... They lay: and 'twas for what the Friar owed. a1680Butler Rem. (1759) I. 143 Rooking Gamesters never lay Upon those Hands, that use fair Play. 1777F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 211, I ventured not to lay against her, because I thought her rather too much in the secret. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iv. xx, I know a gentle⁓man, and you may lay to that. 1889M. E. Carter Mrs. Severn I. i. xiii. 254, I lay I'll keep drier on my own shanks.
c. To bet on (a horse).
1877Porcupine 10 Mar. 790/1 Whether it is as immoral to ‘bear the market’ as to ‘lay the favourite’;..all these are irrelevant issues. 1887W. B. Gilpin Set of Four Hunting & Racing Stories vi. 68 They refused to lay him except at odds on. Ibid. x. 97 His..plans..‘to lay the horse all he could without exciting too much suspicion’. 1891N. Gould Double Event 6 The heaviest layers of odds..had laid Caloola..for considerable amounts. 1901Daily Chron. 24 July 3/2 For the Derby or other important races Davis would lay a horse to the extent of {pstlg}100,000 in one bet.
†13. trans. To relinquish, sacrifice (one's life); = lay down (51 e). Obs.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 7188 (Kölbing) Oȝain.. bare him þurch wombe & rigge, His liif he dede him þere legge. Ibid. 2026, 6426. 1340 Ayenb. 149 We ssolle legge oure zaules uor oure broþren. c1430Christ's Compl. 591 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 201 For þi loue my lijf y laied. 1567Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 142 Than suld we outher do or die, Or ellis our lyfe we suld lay for it.
†14. To lose the faculty of (speech). north. Obs.
c1350Medical MS. in Archæologia XXX. 354 Ȝif a man for sekenesse hat leyde speche. 1566Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 261 Thes things hearafter fouloing was propounded to him when he had layd spetch, and he..gau his consent by sygnes. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) 439 He hoped that he should yit speak, suppose it be said that his speech is laid, and show his awin mynde.
III. To place, set, apply.
15. a. To place close to; to put to for a purpose, to apply; sometimes const. on, upon. † to lay ear to: to give ear to, listen or attend to. to lay to heart: see heart n. 42.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 2336 (Gr.) Abraham..leᵹde hleor on eorðan. c1000ælfric Gen. xxi. 7 Þæt Sarra sceolde lecgan cild to hyre breoste to ᵹesoce on ylde. c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 86 Nim winᵹeardes sæt &..leᵹe uppan þat sar. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 197 Þe neddre secheð a ston and leið hire on eare þer to. c1220Bestiary 359 Is non at nede ðat oðer lateð, Oc leiȝeð his skinbon on oðres lendbon. a1300Cursor M. 16340 (Cott.) Pilate..Of his clothes vn-clethes him, And oþer on him did lai. Ibid. 23831 (Cott.) Selden com we sarmon nere..Þe ere þar-to selden we lai. c1340Ibid. 1241 (Trin.) Vpon his spade his brest he leide. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 388 Þe hevid þan to þe fete þai lad.. and..a-bowt turnyt þe ded body. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 44 The Fende..leith a laddre there-to, of lesynges are the ronges. c1384Chaucer H. Fame i. 291 That he that fully knoweth therbe May savely ley hyt to his ye. c1400Rom. Rose 7611 Ley no deef ere to my speking. c1450ME. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 201 Tak yarwe & le þe rotos y brused to þe teþ. 1526Tindale Luke iii. 9 Nowe also ys the axe leyd vnto the rote off the trees. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 145 Lay not a flattering Vnction to your soule, That not your trespasse, but my madnesse speakes. 1605― Macb. i. iii. 44 By each at once her choppie finger laying Vpon her skinnie lips. 1611Bible Ezek. xxxvii. 6, I wil lay sinewis vpon you, and wil bring vp flesh vpon you. 1817Blackw. Mag. II. 86/1 Instead of passing the one-horse chaise, he [a horse] laid his counter close up to it, and stopt it. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xiv. 124 He had laid the spark to the train.
†b. To attach, add, annex to.
a1023Wulfstan Hom. (Napier) 274 Leofan menn, laᵹjað gode woroldlaᵹan and lecgað þærtoeacan, þat [etc.]. a1225Leg. Kath. 1434 Se rudie & se reade ilitet eauereuch leor as lilie ileid to rose. 1388Wyclif Ecclus. xviii. 5 It is not to make lesse, nether to leie to. 1560Bible (Genev.) Isa. v. 8 Wo vnto them that ioyne house to house, and lay field to field. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xi. (Arb.) 117 He conquered..Egypt, and layd it to his dominion. 1601Holland Pliny I. 53 The townes next to the marches..laid to Bœtica. 1647N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. ii. (1739) 20 The Incumbent also of every Church had Glebe laid to the Church. a1656Ussher Ann. vi. (1658) 253 A multitude of townes and villages..all which he laid to Porus his Kingdom. 1819in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 373 The buildings..may be removed and part of the land laid to the street in the intended line of improvement.
†c. to lay from, lay off: to put away from (oneself); to take (one's fingers) off something. Obs.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andrew) 684 His clathis all fra hym he lad. 1526Tindale Eph. iv. 22 Laye from you that olde man, which is corrupte thorowe the deceavable lustes. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 243 He was very loath to lay his fingers off it. 1611Bible Jonah iii. 6 He laid his robe from him.
†d. To put in or commit to (prison). Obs.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 2693 Ðor ise son he leide in bonde. 1434Waterf. Arch. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 297 The said citsaine..shal be commytted and layed to jayle. 1526Tindale Luke iii. 20 Then Herode..added this above all and leyd Jhon in preson. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 426 Hughe Latimer..whome kyng Edward delivered out of the tower, layd in there by his father for doctrine.
†e. To compare with. Obs.
1577H. I. tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. viii. 192 They conferre the one with the other & lay them with the lawe.
f. to lay into or in one: to convert into one apartment or structure. ? local.
1849Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. X. ii. 412 Two bad cottages of one room each, if laid into one, might make an extremely good one. 1861R. Willis in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 174 Whenever the additional structure is completed, this wall can be removed, and the whole will be laid in one.
†g. to lay a name on: to give a name to.
a1300Cursor M. 9827 His names er þir, wit-vten les, Þat þe prophet has on him laid. Ibid. 10577 Maria to nam on hir þai laid, Als þe angel had þam forwit said.
h. To put (dogs) on a scent. (Cf. 55 i.) Also, to lay a trail on (a quarry).
1781Cowper Expost. 520 Thy soldiery, the Pope's well-managed pack..when he laid them on the scent of blood, Would hunt a Saracen through fire and flood. 1861Temple Bar IV. 53 He gets a little ‘law’ before the pack are laid upon his track. 1888Times 13 Oct. 7/6 A trail should be laid on a man who makes his way along both frequented and unfrequented streets and on to some railway station.
16. a. To place (affection, hope, confidence) on or in a person or thing. † Also, to lay praise, lay one's blessing, etc. upon. to lay † prize, lay store upon: to value, set store by. arch.
a1300Cursor M. 18341 On all his santes..His saing laid þat drightin dere. a1307Thrush & Night. 158 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 56 Thou art ounwis, On hem to leggen so michel pris. c1350Will. Palerne 1448 Þe loos on hire is leide. c1374Chaucer Troylus v. 1846 For he nil falsen no wight, dar I seye, That wol his herte al hoolly on him leye. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 236 Sic loiss on hym-self he laide. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 65 My luf is laid apon ane knycht. 1580Sidney Ps. xxi. vii, Our king In heav'n his trust hath laied. 1601Shakes. All's Well iii. iii. 2 We Great in our hope, lay our best loue and credence Vpon thy promising fortune. 1719Watts Ps. cxxi. i, To heav'n I lift my waiting eyes, There all my hopes are laid. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano i. xiv. 45 And though on Blanche his love was wholly laid. 1889Doyle M. Clarke xxxiii. 365 Neither now or at any time..have I laid great store upon my life.
†b. to lay (one's care, concerns) on God: to commit, trust to Him. Obs.
c1200Ormin 2381 And all ȝho leȝȝde þatt o Godd & onn hiss lefe wille, Þatt he þæroffe shollde don All whattse hiss wille wære. 1671Milton P.R. ii. 54 Let us be glad of this, and all our fears Lay on his Providence.
17. to lay {ddd} before: to place in front of, to bring to the sight of; hence, to bring to the notice of, to submit to the consideration of; † pass. to be in store for. (Cf. branch IV.)
c1000ælfric Gen. xxxi. 37 Leᵹe hit her beforan þinum freondum. c1340Cursor M. 15714 (Trin.) Muchel woo if he wist is bifore him leide. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints vi. (Thomas) 102 A blak hund..gat It, & lad before þame all. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 661 When she fynt a corn, She chicketh hem and layth hit hem byfore. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 14 They..brought the pryce therof, and layde it before the fete of the apostles. 1535Coverdale Gen. xxx. 41 He layed the staues in the drynkinge troughes before the eyes of the flockes. ― 1 Chron. xxi[i]. 10 Thre thinges laye I before the, chose y⊇ one of them. 1712Addison Spect. No. 457 ⁋1, I shall this Day lay before my Reader a Letter. a1715Burnet Own Time (1734) II. 602 The Lower House ordered him to lay the Matter before the Attorney-General for his Opinion. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 90 We ought to lay these things plainly and honestly before our mind. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxviii, I hope you have no objection to laying your case before the uncle. 1849Aytoun Poems, Buried Flowers 163 And I laid my heart before thee, Laid it, darling, at thy feet! 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 94 Cardinal Morton..laid the condition of the secular clergy before the assembled prelates.
18. a. To set (a snare, a trap, an ambush); † to set (watch). to lay wait: see wait n. (and await n.).
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 209 Ure fo..leið grune in a wilderne to henten þe deor. a1300Cursor M. 16894 Ȝeming on him yee lai. c1400Destr. Troy 10743 The ledes with⁓oute..Laidon wacche to þe wallis, þat no wegh past. c1440Bone Flor. 1358 To kepe the place day and nyghtys, And wach abowte hur lay. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiii. 262 We..layde our busshement in a lytell wood. 1535Coverdale Ps. lxiv. 5 [They] commoned amonge them selues, how they maye laye snares. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 222 b, Watche was privilie leyd for him. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 22 Thou layd'st a Trap to take my Life. 1670A. Roberts Adv. T.S. 111 The first time they laid an Ambuscado in their way. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 93 Melfort was particularly active in laying traps for the young noblemen and gentlemen of the Legation.
b. intr. to lay for: to set an ambush or a trap for; to beset the path of; to lie in wait for, waylay.
1494Fabyan Chron. vii. 300, ii. M. of his men..were layde for, & distressyd. 1530Palsgr. 602/1, I laye for, as hunters or fysshers layeth his nettes for his praye, je tens. I have layde for a pickrell, but I wene I shall catche a frogge. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 569 Being..hardly laied for at sea by Cortugogli a famous pirat. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xix. ix. 134 The inhabitants beyond Tigris, streightly layed for, were all massacred every mothers child. 1623Massinger Dk. Milan v. i. L 3, Men in debt..layd for by their creditors. 1648Bp. Hall Select Th. 84 Even our Blessed Leader..when he found that he was laid for in Judæa, flees into Galilee. 1893Nat. Observer 20 May 22/1 He was ‘laid for’ by a scoundrel whom, being a magistrate, he had sent up for trial. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 291 The men go and lay for a rubber-hunter.
†c. trans. To set watch or guard in (a place); to beset; to search (a place) for. Obs.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 77 Somuche as the waye is layde, that I can neyther come nor sende unto you. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. x. 4, I..durst not peepe out, for all the Country is laid for me. 1607Middleton Your Five Gallants iv. G 4 b, Maister Primero was rob'd of a Carkanet vpon monday last; laid the Goldsmiths and found it. 1608― Trick Catch Old One i. ii, I have been laying all the town for thee. 1621H. King Serm. 3 As exquisite gluttons lay all markets for fare. a1645Heywood Fort. by Land & Sea ii. Wks. 1874 VI. 390 Continue our pursuit, all ways are layd.
19. to lay siege to, † unto, † about, † against, † before: to besiege; also fig. to attack. † Also to lay battery, lay blockade to.
c1400Sowdone Bab. 2071 The sege he did leyen a-bowte On every side of that Cite. c1449Pecock Repr. 258 King Herri leieth a sege to Harflew. 1470–85Malory Arthur xx. x. 814 All his hoost made hem redy to laye syege aboute sir Launcelot. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 205 He layed syege before it by the space of foure monethes. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xlii. 53 Gar lay ane sege vnto ȝone fort. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 184 King Fernando besegeth Offen or Buda and layeth to it battery. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 244 To lay an amiable siege to the honesty of this Fords wife. 1647May Hist. Parl. iii. v. 98 Three daies after the siege was layed. 1713Light to Blind in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 200 His General..had lay'd a blocade..to Girona with 12,000 men. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. i. 5 He laid siege to Roxburgh Castle.
20.
†a. To post or station (a body of soldiers, etc.); to station (post-horses) along a route. Also, to beset (a place) with soldiers. Obs.
1454Paston Lett. I. 271 The seide Thomas..layde dyvers folks arraied in maner of werre..in ij busshements. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xc. 113 The lorde Loyes..and sir Othes Dornes, were layd on the see about Gernzay. 1535Coverdale 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14 He..layed captaynes in y⊇ stronge cities of Iuda. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 208 Without anye army layd..to kepe the Erle from landyng. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 87/2 They..laie the sea coasts full of souldiers. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 664/1 There is a bande of souldiours layed in Mounster. 1689Shadwell Bury F. iv. Wks. 1720 IV. 182 He has laid horses, and will be ready to escape. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough III. 299 Parties of Horse..were laid on the Road between Antwerp and that Town, to Escort his Grace. 1862Temple Bar VI. 566, I travelled in a manner which..used to be..very common in India... It is called ‘laying horses’; that is, you ‘lay’ out a horse every seven or eight miles along the road you are going to take.
b. To place or locate (a scene). † Also, to assign to a specified locality. to lay the venue: see the n.
1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 185 The book of Domesday (speaking of Apuldore) laieth it in the hundreth of Blackburne. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. Prol. 2 (Qo. 1597) In faire Verona, where we lay our Scene. 1601Holland Pliny I. 145 Other Geographers..lay it as a dependant annexed to Affrick. 1668Dryden Dram. Poesie Ess. (ed. Ker) I. 83 The scene of it [The Silent Woman] is laid in London. 1784Cowper Task iv. 697, I never framed a wish or formed a plan..But there I laid the scene. 1868Gladstone Juv. Mundi ii. (1870) 34 In the legend of the birth of Eurustheus, the scene is laid in ἄργος ἀχαϊκόν.
21. With object denoting a member of the body.
a. gen. To place (one's limbs, etc.) in a certain position.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 115 And summe leiden the legges a-liri as suche losels cunne. 1530Palsgr. 602/1 Laye your legges a crosse and I wyll teache you a play. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 424 (Qo.), Then layed his leg Ouer my thigh, and sigh'd, and kissed. 1842Tennyson Beggar Maid 1 Her arms across her breast she laid. 1859Jephson Brittany iii. 29 The horse who was caressed in this affectionate style had scarcely the spirit even to lay back his ears.
†b. to lay eyes on: to ‘set eyes on’, look at.
a1225Ancr. R. 56 Heo lette him leggen eien on hire. 1676Marvell Mr. Smirke 42 The fairest thing that ever eyes were laid on. 1818W. Irving Sketch-bk., Leg. Sleepy Hollow, From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the peace of his mind was at an end.
c. to lay hands (or † hand) on or upon († also in, to) a person or thing; (in the earliest quots. const. dat. pron. as indirect obj. with on adv.): (a) in lit. sense, to place one's hands on or apply them to, esp. for purposes of appropriation or in violence; hence (b) to seize, get hold of, appropriate; (c) to do violence to; now to lay violent hands on (with oneself = to commit suicide); (d) to perform the rite of imposition of hands in confirmation or ordination.
c1000Riddles lxxx. 4 (Gr.) Cwen mec hwilum hwitloccedu hond on leᵹeð. c1205Lay. 8192 Ne funde he nonne swa kene mon, Þat hond him durste leggen on. c1250Gen. & Ex. 4113 And ðine hondes ley him on, Sey him on ðin stede to gon. c1300Havelok 994 Neuere more he him misdede, Ne hond on him with yuele leyde. a1300Cursor M. 12893 (Cott.) A! Ion..nan was worthier þan þou Hand to lai on suete iesu To giue him þat hali sacrament. c1340Ibid. 19393 (Fairf.) On ham þai laide þaire hali hande & a quile ware praiande. 1340Ayenb. 41 Sacrilege is..huanne me layþ hand ine kueade ine clerk. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 321 Alle þo þat leyn hond on fadir or modir in violence ben cursed of God and man. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 479 It is trouth that X rybawdes cam here ryght now and layd hande vpon me. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lviii. 199 Gerames..layd handes on him, as though he toke hym prysoner. 1550Crowley Last Trump 9 If God haue layede hys hande on the, And made the lowe. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 362 There was no great Ship on the Sea that the French men could lay theyr handes upon. 1605Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 192 Oh heere he is: lay hand vpon him, Sir. 1606G. W. tr. Justine xliii. 135 By meanes whereof, the treason comming to light, the Ligurians were laide hand on. 1662Bk. Com. Prayer, Burial Dead (Rubric), Or have laid violent hands upon themselves. 1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 55, I loaded them with..any thing I could lay my Hands on. 1784Cowper Task ii. 393 O ye mitred heads..lay not careless hands On skulls that cannot teach, and will not learn. 1860Dickens Uncomm. Trav. xiii, Any object they think they can lay their thieving hands on. 1889Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 99 A mob..laid hands on a quantity of timber fit for building purposes, and took it away bodily. 1890Guardian 29 Oct. 1693/3 The Government have laid hands on the last fraction of the sum reserved for the redemption of the public debt.
†d. to lay (a) hand: to assist, ‘lend’ a hand.
1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 192 Happy is that man or child can lay a hand to help to draw it. 1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (1662) 46 Alas our poor Church is oppressed, and who layeth hand to help?
e. to lay a finger or one's finger(s upon: see finger n. 3 a.
1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 157 The Parliament began to lay their fingers on the great ones. 1836Keble Serm. viii. Postscr. (1848) 376 To select for himself a certain number of divine truths out of the great body of the Scriptures, on which he may lay his finger and say; This, and this alone, is the Gospel. 1865,1894[see finger n. 3 a].
22. to lay hold (up)on, of: to take into one's grasp, to grasp, seize on (with material and immaterial obj.); to avail oneself of (a pretext).
1535Coverdale Prov. iii. 18 She is a tre of life to them that laye holde vpon her. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 54 If he presume to enter our house..we lay holde on his locks, turne him away with his backe full of stripes. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. vi. 221 Hee was forced to lay holde vpon a braunch. 1611Bible Matt. xiv. 3. ― 1 Tim. vi. 12. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 889 Stealing closely, or openly, any thing they could lay hold on. 1710Steele Tatler No. 194 ⁋12 For offering in so rude a Manner to lay hold on a Virgin. 1714Addison Spect. No. 556 ⁋5, I laid hold of all Opportunities to exert it. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 245 Lady Dysert laid hold on his absence in Scotland to make a breach between them. 1726G. Roberts Four Years Voy. 26, I was willing to lay hold of the Frieght offered, for fear his Sloop should come. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy ii, So saying, the boatswain lays hold of the boy. 1874Helps Soc. Press. ii. 24 There is no municipality which can lay hold of this land.
23. refl. and intr. To apply oneself to; † to set oneself against.
1535Coverdale 1 Sam. ii. 29 Why layest thou thy selfe then agaynst my sacrifices and meatofferinges? 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 297 Not even after the death of the usuk did our men lay to their oars more heartily. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xviii. xii. (1872) VIII. 21 When Friedrich laid himself to engineering, I observe, he did it well.
24. Mil. To set (a gun, etc.) in the correct position for hitting a mark. Also absol.
1480[see laying vbl. n. 1]. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Arcus, Tendere aliquo arcum, to lay or leuell toward. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 103 No 1 commands and lays. 1877Clery Minor Tactics xi. 134 Not..so much by the distance the gun can carry, as by the accuracy with which it can be laid. 1883Ld. Saltoun Scraps I. 224 A young officer of the line regiment asked to be allowed to lay the gun for that shot.
25. a. To put into a condition (usually one of subjection, passivity, or exposure to view or danger: cf. the corresponding uses of lie v.), which is expressed by a complementary adj., adv., or advb. phrase, as in to lay fallow, idle; to lay (land) dry, under water; lay under necessity, obligation, difficulty, a command, etc. to lay bare: (a) to denude, remove the covering from; (b) to expose to view, reveal. † to lay in forbode: to prohibit the use of. † to lay to sight: to reveal, disclose. to lay under contribution: see contribution 1 b. † to lay in (or a) water: fig. to make nugatory (see water). For lay open, waste, see the adjs.
a1300Cursor M. 765 Þe midward tre is vs outtan Our lauerd in forbot has it laid. 1563Homilies ii. Matrimony (1859) 513 Let him..never lay these matters to sight. 1703Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. 42 It lays him at the mercy of chance and humour. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 156 He first laid the Country under Water. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. xii. 262 This laid us under a necessity of filling all our casks from the furthest part of the lake. 1748Chesterfield Lett. (1792) II. clxviii. 124 Which might..lay him under difficulties both what to say, and how to look. 1807Sir R. Wilson Jrnl. 2 July in Life (1862) II. viii. 291, I rowed part of the way in the queen's boat, an exercise..of which my hands will long bear the marks, as they are laid bare over the whole of both palms. 1862Tyndall Mountaineer. vi. 44 A space of comparatively dry clay was laid bare. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xxxi. 311 He was laid under orders to follow the commands of the Spanish king. 1897Daily News 26 Feb. 7/3 Another workmen's train was stopped..many workmen being thus laid idle for the day.
b. to lay fast: to set fast, render unable to proceed or escape; † formerly, to put in fetters, imprison (also † to lay fast by the feet). Also to lay by the heels: see heel n.1 19.
1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 42 b, [They] required that they might be layde faste by the feete. 1584[see heel n.1 19]. 1623Lisle ælfric on O. & N. Test., Apostles Dispersed, Then laid they his guide fast, that he might not any way escape by flight. 1677Otway Cheats Scapin i. i, I know how to lay that rogue my son fast. 1809Heber in Q. Rev. II. 288 If we are laid fast by want of horses, or mutiny of drivers. 1889Doyle M. Clarke xxxiv. 308 He had heard that you were laid by the heels.
c. Naut. With advb. compl., as alongside, by the lee, etc. to lay aback (see quots. 1867, 1881).
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 43 Lay the ship by the Lee to trie the Dipsie line. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) E e e 4 b, Mettre à Scier,..to back the sails, or lay them aback, so as to make the vessel fall astern. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 69 To bagpipe the mizen is to lay it aback, by bringing the sheet to the mizen-shrouds. 1869W. Longman Hist. Edw. III, I. xviii. 326 The King ordered his ship to be laid alongside a large Spaniard. 1881L. R. Hamersly Naval Encycl., To lay a yard aback, is to brace it in such a way that the wind will blow against the forward side of the sail. 1891Cornh. Mag. June 583 Lay her two courses to the wind.
d. Naut. to lay{ddd}aboard: to run into or alongside (a ship), usually in order to board her. So to lay close, to lay athwart the hawse.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 25, I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboord. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 19 That if we should be laid aboard, we might clear our Decks. 1707Lond. Gaz. No. 4369/3 The Sloop soon laid her aboard. 1731Capt. W. Wriglesworth MS. Log bk. of the ‘Lyell’ 2 July, A Collier lay'd us athwart the Hawse, and broke our Flying Jib Boom [etc.]. 1799Nelson Let. 9 Feb. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) III. 260 Lay a Frenchman close, and you will beat him. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. xi. (1886) 90 Why, how many tall ships, think ye, now, I have seen laid aboard?
†e. To bring home to. Obs.
1709Steele Tatler No. 71 ⁋1 Such a Tract as shall lay Gaming home to the Bosoms of all who love..their Families.
IV. To present, put forward (cf. lay before, 17).
26. a. To put forward, allege (a claim, † reason, † excuse, † example, etc.): often with clause as obj.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 57 He leieþ [v.r. leiþ] for hym þe vers of þe sawter, ‘God schal nouȝt be wrooþ for everemore’. 1481Caxton Myrr. iii. xxiv. 193, I leye for myn excuse, that I haue to my power folowed my copye. 1481–4E. Paston in P. Lett. III. 279 My huswyffe trustythe to ley to ȝow her huswyferey for her excuse. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 2 §1 Courtes where the seid proteccions shalbe pleded or leyed for any of the seid persons. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 789 When he had layde for the proofe and confirmation of this sentence, examples taken out of the olde testament. 1529― Dyaloge iii. Wks. 211/1 Many a witnesse was there to whom he layd none exception. c1530L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 82 He layeth for hym that his mothers abhominable iniury constrayned him thereto. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) F iij, We muste not lay excuses. a1540Barnes Wks. (1573) 345/1 The Priests layd that they were best worthy. 1562Apol. Priv. Masse 4 b, If you haue no scriptures to lay for you, then trouble our mother the holy catholike churche no longer. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, I. i. 152 Plantagenet, for all the Clayme thou lay'st Thinke not, that Henry shall be so depos'd. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 198 These are the reasons which I meante to lay. 1647Cowley Mistr., Written in Juice of Lemon vii, And to her Hand lay noble claim. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xxvi, I prevented it being given to any other, by laying claim to it myself.
b. To present (an information, indictment) in legal form.
1798Bay Amer. Law Rep. (1809) I. 245 In an indictment for manslaughter, it is necessary to lay it to have been done voluntarily. 1838[see information 5 a. (a)]. 1870Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 162 Information having been laid that he had forsworn himself. 1891Standard 8 Apr. 5/1 Anyone,..whether personally aggrieved or not, may lay an information.
c. † (a) To assign (a date). (b) Law. To state or describe as; to fix (damages) at a certain amount.
c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 1699 The day of her deth eke ful fayre he leyth Of nouembre moneth. 1770Foote Lame Lover ii. Wks. 1799 II. 72 The field..is laid in the indictment as round. 1820Gifford Compl. Eng. Lawyer ii. 248 The time of the death must be laid within a year and a day after the mortal stroke was given. Ibid., The facts must be laid to be done treasonably, and against his allegiance. 1891Athenæum 7 Mar. 306/1 He laid his damages at 20,000l.; the arbitrators gave him one farthing.
†d. To expound, set forth, lay open. Obs.
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1590) 16 b, And yet thus much I wil say for my selfe, that I haue not laid these matters, either so openly, or largely to any as your selfe.
†e. intr. To give information, tell. Obs. rare.
c1470Henry Wallace vii. 31 To lord Persye off this mattir thai laid.
27. a. To bring forward as a charge, accusation, or imputation; to impute, attribute, ascribe (something objectionable). Const. to, † unto, † against, † in, on. ? arch.
c1425Lydg. Assemb. Gods 208 Thow mayst be dismayde To here so gret compleyntes ayene the layde. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 5 There was leyde to him hye tresone. c1530Hickscorner (c 1550) C iv b, They sayde I was a thefe and layde felonye vppon me. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) C viij b, Lette no man..lay against the goddes, that they be cruell. 1580Sidney Ps. xxxv. v, Who did me wrong against me wittnesse beare, Laying such things as never in me were. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 76 These objections which you laie against me. 1611Bible Job xxiv. 12 God layeth not folly to them. 1690Wood Life 25 July, E. G. with child, layd on the tapster. 1749Fielding Tom Jones i. iii, I'll warrant 'tis not her first [illegitimate child], by her impudence in laying it to your worship. 1795–7Southey Juvenile Poems Poet. Wks. II. 236 That..you should lay to me Unkind neglect. 1861Temple Bar II. 247 This was laid to her overweening pride. 1874G. W. Dasent Half a Life III. 288 He had of course to lay his sleeplessness on something, and so he laid it on the lobster salad. 1890Temple Bar Oct. 296, I laid the theft on Bastonjee.
b. Phr. to lay to (a person's) charge, lay at or to (his) door, † lay in (his) dish, † lay in (his) neck: to impute to, charge upon. Also to lay to one's credit, † reproach, etc. (See also the ns.)
1530Palsgr. 603/1 Wyll you laye thefte to his charge, and have no better a grounde? a1533Ld. Berners Huon xxxiii. 102 It shall neuer be layde to my reproche. 1534Tindale Acts vii. 60 Lorde laye not this synne to their charge. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (Arb.) 66 The wickedness and follye of others shalbe imputed to hym, and layde in his nekke. 1551,1722[see dish n. 1 d]. 1681H. More Exp. Dan. 195 The Pontifician Party have no reason to lay such things in the dish of the Reformed. 1701,1749[see door n. 6]. 1824Scott St. Ronan's xxiii, Do not force a broken-hearted sister to lay her death at your door. 1885C. L. Pirkis Lady Lovelace II. xxii. 53 You..laid his death to my charge. 1892Blackw. Mag. CLI. 156/2 This..must be laid to the credit of the Tories.
V. To impose as a burden.
28. a. To impose (a penalty, command, obligation, burden, tax, etc.). Const. on, upon, († to). (See also load n.)
a1000Guthlac 685 (Gr.) Þæt ᵹe..on his wergengan wite leᵹdon. 11..O.E. Chron. 1064 (Laud MS.) Hi læᵹdon ærende on hine to þam cynge Eadwarde. Ibid. an. 1137 Hi læiden gæildes on the tunes. a1225Ancr. R. 346 Þe preost ne þerf..leggen oðer schrift on ou. a1300Cursor M. 18455 Sant michael for-bot on us laid. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 336 It were as myche nede to leye now as myche penaunce to summe, as [etc.]. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxx, Thus sall on the my charge bene Ilaid. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxi. 28 On fredome is laid foirfaltour. a1533Ld. Berners Huon lxx. 240 You knowe the payne that I layde on your hedes yf Huon dyd not accomplysshe my message. 1557N. T. (Genev.) 1 Cor. ix. 16 For necessitie is layd vpon me [Gr. ἀνάγκη γάρ µοι ἐπίκειται], and wo is it vnto me, yf I preache not the Gospel. 1590Pasquil's Apol. i. C iij b, People may not looke to lay all vppon the Parsons shoulders. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 66 Yf..the delinquent is worthy of a greate punishment; but, the question is, by whom yt is to be layed? 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §6 We are not to think that an Oath layes any greater obligation upon God for performance, then the meer declaration of his will. 1697Potter Antiq. Greece i. xxi. (1715) 121 If a pecuniary Mulct was laid upon him. 1781D. Williams tr. Voltaire's Dram. Wks. II. 103 Once only do I mean to lay my commands upon you. 1790Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 153 The improbability that Congress would ever lay taxes where the States could do it separately. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. x. (1852) 345 An additional duty..was laid on windows. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi. IV. 554 Northumberland strictly obeyed the injunction which had been laid on him. 1870Rogers Hist. Gleanings Ser. ii. 195 The burden of proof being laid on the accused person. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xxiv. 230 Severe fines were laid on all the villages. 1885E. F. Byrrne Entangled II. ii. viii. 265 The dead mother has laid it upon you to find it.
†b. To quarter (soldiers) on or upon. Obs.
1612Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1787) 43 The soldiers, for want of pay, were sessed and laid upon the subjects against their will. 1669Ormonde MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 102 Wee require the souldiers..to draw off from the petitioner and his tenants, and..to..shew by what authority..they are layd uppon them. Ibid., It not being lawfull to lay souldiers on any persons.
†c. To assess, rate, tax (a person). Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 261 Marchaunt & burgeis to þe sext be laid. 1467in Eng. Gilds (1870) 387 What persone that refuseth to paye, at that tyme as he ys assessed or leyd, shal paye to the comen cofre xl.d. 1707in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 45 He is still lay'd and tax'd for it. 1712Prideaux Direct. Ch.-wardens (ed. 4) 47 The Lands, in respect of which he is lay'd, are out of the Parish.
29. To cast (blame, † aspersions, † ridicule) on or upon; also const. † in, † to.
13..K. Alis. 1553 ‘Byschop,’ he saide, ‘there is a sclaunder, Y-layd on me kyng Alisaunder’. c1330Spec. Gy Warw. 592 Many a skorn [was] on him leid [v.r. Ileide]. 1390Gower Conf. I. 76 The blame upon the duke they laide. 1530Palsgr. 602/2 Why lay you the blame of this faute to me? 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 30 The fault is not to be layed in the thyng whiche was worthie to be written vpon. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 244 Yf any man shulde lay the blame in us. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 11 And laid the blame, not to his carriage, But to his starting steed that swarv'd asyde. 1647May Hist. Parl. i. i. 14 A declaration..wherein aspertions were laid vpon some members. 1676C. Hatton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 130 All y⊇ blame wase layd on y⊇ wine and he pardoned. 1820W. Irving Sketch-bk., Rip van W., The good wives of the village..never failed..to lay all the blame on Dame van Winkle.
30. to lay stress, lay weight, lay emphasis on or upon: to emphasize, bring into special prominence, attach great importance to.
1666Pepys Diary 3 July, The House do not lay much weight upon him, or any thing he says. 1676Glanvill Ess. vii. 33 They doated upon little, needless, foolish things, and lay'd a great stress of Religion upon them. 1686A. Horneck Crucif. Jesus viii. 136 The Greek Church to this day lays the stress of consecration upon the prayer of the Holy Ghost. 1700Wallis in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 327 He seems to lay weight on this. 1748J. Mason Elocut. 26 To see that it [the Emphasis] be always laid on the emphatical Word. 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 363 To lay the emphasis with exact propriety, is a constant exercise of good sense and attention. 1845McCulloch Taxation ii. vi. (1852) 307 The only objection..on which any stress can be fairly laid. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. fr. 1689. 234 The great teachers laid all the stress on dogma.
31. To bring (a stick, etc.) down upon; to inflict (blows). Also to lay it on (lit. and fig.).
c1314Guy Warw. (Auchinleck MS.) 7524 And we leyd on hem dintes grete. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 338 They leid on þi leigis, Richard, lasshis y-now. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxi. 14 Thane is thair laid on me ane quhip. a1550Christis Kirke Gr. xiv, The reird rais rudely with the rapps, Quhen rungs wer layd on riggis. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 268 Layest thou thy Leaden Mace vpon my Boy? 1833Macaulay in Life & Lett. (1880) I. 337, I have laid it on Walpole..unsparingly. 1879Froude Cæsar xx. 338 What if my son wishes to lay a stick on my back?
32. absol. and intr. To deal blows; to make an attack. Chiefly in phraseological expressions with preps.
a. to lay on or lay upon: to attack vigorously, to beat soundly. (See also lay on, 55 b.)
a1225Ancr. R. 292 Mid te holie rode steaue, þet him is loðest kuggel, leie on þe deouel dogge. c1305Edmund Conf. 112 in E.E.P. (1862) 74 And euere seide þis holi man as he leide on hire faste Maide þu schalt lurny þus awei forto caste Þi fole wil of þi flesch. c1330Arth. & Merl. 4046 (Kölbing) Ich on oþer gan to legge. c1460Towneley Myst. xvi. 425 Thar was none that I spard, bot lade on and dang them. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. lxii. 46 The whyte dragon egrely assaylled the reede and layd on hym so strongly that [etc.]. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 253 b, They layde on hym with theyr fystes and other wepens. 1590Webbe Trav. (Arb.) 20 Ye Turkes woulde lay vpon them as vpon Horses, and beat them in such sort, as oft times they dyed. c1610Women Saints 146 He layeth on her with threates. 1640tr. Verdere's Rom. Rom. I. x. 36 They laid upon one another with such fury, as [etc.]. 1758Goldsm. Mem. Protestant (1895) II. 17 Rascal! replied the Tyrant, give me the Stick; and taking it in his Hand..with the most inhuman Barbarity he laid on the unresisting Slave. 1814Southey Roderick xxv, Laying on the Moors with that good sword.
†b. to lay to, lay unto: to assault, attack, press hard (lit. and fig.). Also to lay home, lay hard, lay hardly, lay to. Obs.
c1430Syr Tryam. 1073 Alle the fosters to hym cun lay Wyth sterne worde and mode. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Mark xiv. 68 note, Peter prepareth him selfe to flee if he were farther layd vnto. 1581B. Rich Farew. Mil. Prof. G iv b, The Marchaunt..with greate importunitie requested her in the waie of mariage, and so hardly he laied vnto her, that [etc.]. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 1 Looke you lay home to him. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 19 The warre was again begun, and the citie more hardly laid unto than before. 1623Bingham Xenophon 109 At this instant they were assaulted, and hardly laid vnto vpon the hill. 1650Trapp Comm., Gen. xlii. 329 He lays it hard to them still; As who should say, the longer I hear you, the worse I like you. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 284, I found my major hard laid to, but fighting like a lion.
c. to lay at: to aim blows or an attack at; to strike at; to attack, assail (lit. and fig.). In 15–18th c. often in indirect passive. Now chiefly dial.
a1400Arth. & Merl. 2464 (Kölbing), A 100 Sarazens..All att once att him layd. 1440J. Shirley Dethe K. James (1818) 16 The traitours..laid at the chaumbur dors..with levours and with axes. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xii. 74, I am layed at with deadly deceytes. 1561Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtier iv. V v ij, The beautiful women haue alwaies more suyters, and be more instantlye laide at in loue [It. sono piu..sollicitate d'amor], then the foule. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 214 Fiercely the good man at him did laye. 1600Holland Livy v. xxiv. 196 The..Senators..came forth to the multitude, and offered themselves to be laid at, smitten and slaine. 1611Bible Job xli. 26 The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. v. (1840) 102 Our men being thus hard laid at, Atkins wounded. 1728Ramsay General Mistake 82 Even beauty guards in vain, he lays at a'. 1876Surrey Gloss., The rabbits have laid at that wheat unaccountably. 1899Expositor Jan. 54 The lie lays at the truth and the Truth must lay at the lie.
d. to lay into: to belabour; to ‘pitch into’. slang or colloq.
1838D. Jerrold Men of Char., John Applejohn xiii, I shall be very happy..to go and hold the door, while you lay into the ruffian. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iv, Laying into me with your little bonnet. 1876‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. iii. (1880) I. 22 He [a bird] laid into his work like a nigger. 1887G. R. Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 108 She would lay into Master John with her stick.
e. to lay about one: to deal violent and repeated blows on all sides; occas. (trans.) to lay (a weapon) about one. Hence fig. to act vigorously, make strenuous efforts, do one's utmost.
c1435Torr. Portugal 1036 Fast he leyd hym a-bowte All þat somyrres nyght. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. iv. 32 And with his brondiron round about him layd. a1618Sylvester Sonn. xvi. Wks. (Grosart) II. 39 When like a Lion to preserve her yong, Thou laydst about thee to redeeme the same. 1631R. Bolton Comf. Affl. Consc. 49 Thou, that now laies about the for thee world and wealth. 1674Essex Papers (Camden) I. 279 He lays about him on all hands where there is any the least project of gaine. 1690Locke Hum. Und. iii. vi. (1695) 244 Those Words, with which they are so armed at all points, and with which they so confidently lay about them. 1720Mrs. Manley Power Love (1741) I. 55 How they laid about them to commend your Soul to God! 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay about one's self..faire tous les efforts, remuër ciel et terre. 1837Disraeli Venetia iv. xviii, They laid about them with their staves. 1889Doyle M. Clarke xxxii. 353 We cut a way to his rescue, and laid our swords about us.
†33. impers. Of the wind, weather: To be violent. Obs.
c1475Rauf Coilȝear 139 Sa troublit with stormis was I neuer stad; Of ilk airt of the Eist sa laithly it laid. [Cf.1825–80Jamieson, To Lay On. 1. To rain, to hail, to snow heavily; as ‘It's layin' o' snaw’.]
†34. To strike, beat (a person) on the face, over the head, etc. to lay on the lips: to kiss. Obs.
In these uses the personal obj. is prob. to be regarded as a dative.
1530Palsgr. 602/2, I lay hym on the face... I layde hym betweene the necke and the shoulders that I made hym grone. 1599Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. ii. (1656) E 1 b, Ile lay you o'th lips and leave you. 1602Marston Ant. & Mel. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 25 Faith, sweet, ile lay thee on the lips for that jest. 1628Earle Microcosm., Upstart Country Knt. (Arb.) 38 Being once laid ore the shoulder with a Knighthood. 1690W. Walker Idiomat. Anglo-Lat. 228 He laid him over the face with his hands as hard as he could strike. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. v, The cook laid them over the pate with a ladle.
VI. To dispose or arrange in proper relative position over a surface.
35. a. trans. To place in the proper or designed position (something that extends horizontally, e.g. a foundation (often fig.), a floor, stones or bricks in building, etc.).
c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xiv. 29 Syððan he þæne grund⁓weall leᵹð [c 1160 Hatton Gosp. leiᵹð]. c1340Cursor M. 13285 (Trin.) At þe see Iame & Ion he fonde As þei were lynes leyond. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 438 To legge lym oþur ston. 1382Wyclif Heb. vi. 1 Not eftsoone leggynge the foundament of penaunce fro deede werkis. c1400Rom. Rose 4149 Aboute him lefte he no masoun, That stoon coude leye, ne querrour. c1425Lydg. Assemb. Gods 596 All the baytys that ye for hym haue leyde. 1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 23 The same herynges shuld be wele truly and justly leyed and packed. 1526Tindale Heb. i. 10 Thou lorde in the begynnynge hast layde the foundacion of the erth. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 283 They lay traines of treason to overthrow their princes. 1644Digby Nat. Bodies x. (1645) 94 Proceeding upon our grounds before layed. 1662Gerbier Princ. 33 Paviors (after the Bricks are laid) throw sharp Sand over them. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. 217 You may begin at the Verge, and so lay several Grooves close by one another till you come to the Center. 1751C. Labelye Westm. Br. 71 The laying the Foundation of Stone-Piers. 1800M. Edgeworth Castle Rackrent 44 She laid the corner⁓stone of all her future misfortunes at that very instant. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. viii. 651 The political conduct of the Governor-General lays sufficient ground for the presumption that [etc.]. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 263 When you lay your floors, let the joints be fitted and tacked down. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxiii. 125 From the time her keel was laid, she had never been so driven. 1842–59Gwilt Archit. §1810 Slating is sometimes laid lozengewise. 1845Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VI. ii. 266 The ordinary mode of farming is to lay the ground in ridges. 1848Chambers's Inform. I. 489/1 That manner of ploughing and laying the ridges..which will best keep the land dry. 1890Cornh. Mag. Sept. 270 The first submarine cable was laid.
b. To set out (a table), to spread (the cloth), place in order (the plates, dishes, knives and forks, etc.) in preparation for a meal; hence, in later use, to set out the table for (a meal). Also absol. † Also, to prepare (a bed).
c1300Havelok 1722 Þanne [he] were set, and bord leyd. c1330Arth. & Merl. 6508 (Kölbing) Þese weschen þis gentil man & leyd tables after þan. c1375Barbour Bruce v. 388 The met all reddy grathit, Vith burdis set and clathis laid. 1530Palsgr. 603/1 Lay the table, for we must dyne in al the haste. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 11 Haue you layd faire the Bed? 1668–9Pepys Diary 8 Jan., Home to my wife's chamber, my people having laid the cloth, and got the rooms all clean. 1788C. Reeve Exiles III. 110, I made the servant lay his bed in order. 1797A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl I. viii. 257 When the cloth was laying for supper. 1836Marryat Japhet lxxviii, I found that the table was laid for three. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, A little dinner..was laid in the dining-room. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. iv, We found the table laid.., the dinner dressing. 1883Black Shandon Bells xviii, The little maidservant..laid the cloth. 1890S. Weyman House of Wolf iv, These gentlemen will not sup with me..Lay for them at the other end.
c. To trace (a ground-plan).
1594Marlowe & Nashe Dido v, When I was laying a platform for these walls. 1601Holland Pliny I. 99 Danochares the Architect laid the modell and platforme therof [sc. of Alexandria] by a subtil and witty deuise. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 29 It is reported that when the workmen began to lay the platforme at Chalcedon, how certain Eagles conueyed their lines to the other side of the Streight.
d. † (a) to lay a buck: to put clothes in soak for washing (obs.). (b) to lay leaven (see quot. 1891).[Possibly confused (a) with some derivative of lye, and (b) with lay v.2, allay v.; but this is uncertain.] 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 166 Maides, three a clock, knede, lay your bucks, or go brew. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Faire, Faire la buée, to lay, or wash a bucke. 1633D. R[ogers] Treat. Sacraments i. 42 Shee that cannot lay a leaven, but thinkes of the kingdome of Christ. 1891Sheffield Gloss. Suppl., Lay, to mix; only used in the phrase ‘to lay leaven’, i.e. to mix the yeast with oat-meal in making oat-cake. 1893Northumb. Gloss., Lay, to mix dough for bread making. ‘Lay the breed’—to mix the flour with the yeast, to make the dough.
e. to lay a fire: to place the fuel ready for lighting.
1876Jevons Logic Prim. 10 If one fire be laid and lighted exactly like another, it ought to burn like it. 1886Besant Childr. Gibeon ii. i, The fire was laid..with the resinous wheels, which burn fiercely.
f. Printing. to lay type: ‘to put new sorts in cases’ (Jacobi Printers' Voc. 1888). Also, to lay the case.
1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 200 The manner how the several sorts of Letters are disposed in the several Boxes, is called, Laying of the Case. 1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. vi. 151 Laying of Cases. This implies filling them with sorts of a new fount of letter.
36. To re-steel (a cutting instrument). dial.
1472–3[see laying vbl. n. 1]. 1475–6Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 25 Et sol. eidem pro le laynge ij axes, vjd. 1605Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 55 For layinge the church hack with new iron, viijd. 1620in Swayne Churchw. Acc. (1896) 172 For Layinge the pickax 1s. 8d. 1893Wiltsh. Gloss., To lay a tool, to steel its edge afresh. 1893in Northumbld. Gloss.
37. Rope-making.
a. To twist yarn to form (a strand), or strands to form (a rope).
1486[see laying vbl. n. 1]. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. vii. 30 If the Cable bee well made, we say it is well laid. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 240 Those who were ashore made twice lay'd stuff for rigging. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §281 A bridle cable was laid perfectly pliant. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1070 The last part of the process of rope-making, is to lay the cordage. 1853Ibid. II. 560 The manner of laying the yarns into ropes.
b. intr. said of the rope.
1796Encycl. Brit. XVI. 485/1 Then..the top comes away from the swivel..and the line begins to lay.
38. a. trans. In immaterial sense: To fix the outlines of, arrange, devise (a plan, plot, scheme); † to establish (a law), settle, lay down (a principle); † to draw up the plan of (a literary composition). to lay one's account: see account n. 15.
11..O.E. Chron. an. 1086 (Laud MS.) He sætte mycel deorfrið & he læᵹde laᵹa þærwið. c1430Freemasonry 449 Suche ordynance at the semblé was layd. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 4 The plot is laid. 1616B. Jonson Epigr., To weak Gamester in Poetry, I cannot for the stage a Drama lay, Tragick or Comick. 1644Milton Judgm. Bucer Wks. 1738 I. 87 If we retain our principles already laid. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables, Life æsop (1708) 8 Several Little Tales and Jests that I take to be neither well Laid, nor well put together. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus v. 83 His Design had been long laid. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 401 The argument for it was laid thus. 1838Thirlwall Greece II. xi. 56 His schemes also were more artfully laid. 1880Libr. Univ. Knowl. (N.Y.) VIII. 381 When the conspiracy was laid to put Jesus to death.
†b. gen. To contrive, arrange. Obs.
1627Donne Serm. v. (1640) 51 God had laid it so, that Moses should be setled this way. a1677Barlow Serm. Wks. 1716 I. 62 Is it not great imprudence so to lay our business that any other matter shall thwart or thrust out devotion? 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. ii, We have laid it so, that he is to be in the next room.
c. intr. † To make arrangements or plans for (obs.); to plan, contrive, or intend to do something (now dial. and U.S.). (Cf. lay out, 56 f.)
c1450Mirour Saluacioun 2058 Saul laide for his dethe als for hys mortale enemy. 1573Tusser Husb. lxvii. (1878) 156 Lay thou to saue,..And then thou shalt enriched be. 1587Golding De Mornay xiv. (1617) 222 Mans mind can skill..to lay earnestly for warre in seeking or enioying of peace. ― Ovid's Met. xii. 277 And what is wrought in all the world he leaies to vnderstand. 1601Holland Pliny I. 413 Men loue rather to haue plenty from their vines, than other⁓wise lay for the goodnesse thereof. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 11 If he lay to please the one the other will be offended. 1648Symmons Vind. Chas. I, 113 Mahomet layed to perpetuate his religion by introducing of ignorance, [etc.]. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Lay, to intend, to lay out, to lay a plan. Ex. ‘I lay to plough for turnips tomorrow’. 1896Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 3 Dec. 4/3 Fitzsimmons evidently laying to get in right on jaw.
39.
†a. In OE.: To direct (one's steps).
b. Naut. to lay one's (or a) course: see quots. 1867, 1881.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 2400 (Gr.) Lastas leᵹdon..oð þæt hie on Sodoman, weall stape burᵹ wlitan meahton. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 18 The Wind will be Northerly, make ready to go about; we shall lay our Course another way. 1793Rennell in Phil. Trans. LXXXIII. 190 We were driven to the north of Scilly; and were barely able to lay a course through the passage between those islands and the Land's End. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To lay her course, to be able to sail in the direction wished for, however barely the wind permits it. 1881L. R. Hamersly Naval Encycl. s.v., A ship lays her course when being close-hauled, the wind permits the desired course to be steered. 1890W. F. Rae Maygrove III. ix. 307 The steamer's course was laid for Michipicoten.
†c. To apply or devote (one's power, affection, possessions) to. Also const. into. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 26294 If..þou haf oft-sith laid might His wrangwis liuelade for to right. 1340–70Alisaunder 203 He had his liking ilaide þat Ladie too wedde. a1400in Eng. Gilds (1870) 357 Ȝif eny good man of þe town leiþ his good to þe commune nede of þe town. 1627–77Feltham Resolves I. i. 1 He..lays his heart into pleasures, and forgets the future.
†40. To set down in writing; to put into, express or ‘couch’ in (certain language or terms). Obs.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 1288 (Kölbing) Merlin to Blasi þer meche seyd, Þat Blasi al in writt leyd. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 184 Als Geffrey in latyn sayd So Mayster Wace in frankis layd. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2516 Phillis, Hir lettre..here & there in Ryme I haue it laide. a1400Arth. & Merl. (Douce MS.) 1792 (Kölbing) In þe Bruyt he hit layde. a1631Donne 6 Serm. (1634) ii. 6 The phrase..is thus conceived and layed, In our image and then, After our likenesse. 1682Bunyan Holy War 215 [The Charter] fairly engraven upon the doors thereof, and laid in Letters of Gold. 1714Steele Lover No. 27 (1723) 160 They..carry a secret Instruction, in that they lay the Sense of the Author still closer in Words of his own. 1775De Lolme Eng. Const. i. x. (1784) 99 In all writs, care must be taken that they be laid and formed according to their case.
41. Art.
a. To put upon a surface in layers; to put or arrange (colours, † a picture) on canvas.
1570Baret Alv. L 54 To laie colour on a picture. c1600Shakes. Sonn. ci, Truth needs no collour, with his collour fixt; Beautie no pensell, beautie's truth to lay. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 343 Their swelling Epithetes thick laid As varnish on a Harlots cheek. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. x. (1695) 71 The Pictures drawn in our Minds are laid in fading Colours. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay the Colours deep (in Painting), empater. 1781Cowper Retirement 798 To teach the canvas innocent deceit, Or lay the landscape on the snowy sheet. 1859Ruskin Two Paths App. iv. (1891) 259 In every given touch [of colour] laid on canvas. Ibid. 261 The refinement of work consists not in laying absolutely little colour, but in always laying precisely the right quantity.
b. to lay a ground: to spread a coating over a surface, as a basis for colours. So in Photography, to lay the grain.
1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) V. 141 Blooteling..found out the application of the chisel for laying grounds, which much exceeded the roller. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 94/2 Three processes are usually required in japanning; laying the ground, painting, and finishing. 1854Scoffern in Orr's Circ. Sci., Chem. 90 The last [stage], technically called ‘laying the grain’, must be effected by hand. It consists in rubbing the surface of the plate in one direction, by means of a buffer.
42. To cover, spread, or coat (with something), esp. by way of ornament (as in embroidery).
a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1076 A robe of purpre..it ful wel With orfrays leyd was everydel. c1400Siege of Troy 135 (MS. Harl. 525) in Archiv Stud. neu. Spr. LXXII. 15 There were sheldis gylt and leyd wyth ynde. c1440Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 433 Take a faire urthen pot, and lay hit well with splentes in the bothum, that the flessh neigh hit not. 1562–3in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 296 To the Painter for leyinge the Irons of the greate Postes in oyle and red leade iijs. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. xix. 29 Softe wollie leaves, as it were layde with a certayne downe or fine cotton. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 832 Short cloakes layed with silver lace. 1663Gerbier Counsel 80 Lathed and laid with Lime and haire. 1820Scott Monast. iii, She is convent-bred, and can lay silk broidery. 1879E. Arnold Lt. Asia 34 Black steel, Laid with gold tendrils. 1889Froude Chiefs of Dunboy xxvi. 399 They..dug a pit, and laid the bottom of it with thorns. 1891Chamb. Jrnl. 5 Dec. 770/1 My bath-room is..a part of the veranda laid with zinc.
VII. 43. a. In intransitive uses, coinciding with or resembling those of lie v.1 to lay low (see low a. 18 c): an occas. use erroneously developed from to lie low.
In the earliest examples the verb appears to be intransitive for reflexive or passive. Now (exc. in Nautical lang., see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was not app. regarded as a solecism. (For lay in wait see wait n.)
c1300Harrow. Hell 147 Sathanas, y bynde the, her shalt thou lay. O that come domesday. 13..Sir Beues 2643 (MS. A.) Þar he schel leggen ay, Til hit come domes dai. a1400in Eng. Gilds (1870) 363 Þt no man ne legge in lond ne in tenement..þe whyle þe suquestre ys þare set. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3340 (Horstm.) Þe chest..In þe whyche þis blessud virgyn leyth y-closot inne. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn li. 195 His cheff standarde ouer thrawen and layng vpon the grounde. 1498Will of Woodforde (Somerset Ho.), Where my wif legges. 1530Palsgr. 605/2 It leyeth on my herte. I tell you as it lyeth on my herte. 1625Bacon Ess., Nature (Arb.) 363 Nature will lay buried a great Time, and yet reuiue. 1628Earle Microcosm., Pretender to Learning (Arb.) 53 Some..Folio, which..hath laid open in the same Page this half yeere. 1662J. Strype in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 179 At my first Coming, I laid alone. 1665Wood Life 25 Sept. (O.H.S.) II. 46 The lady of Castlemaine's two children began to lay at our house. Ibid. 56 The books layd upon the booksellours' hands. 1736Butler Anal. ii. vi. 231 The general Proof of natural Religion..does, I think, lay Level to Common Men. 1749Fielding Tom Jones i. vi, The flame which had before laid in embryo now burst forth. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 558 Eating when we are hungry,..laying down when sleepy. 1794J. Bidlake Poems 4 She..on the ground, to catch each sound would lay. 1818Byron Ch. Har. iv. clxxx, Thou..dashest him again to earth:—there let him lay. 1828J. Raine St. Cuthbert 78 They found the venerable body..laying on its right side. a1861T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) viii. 70 They may..let their chances slide at cards, but my notion is they're layin' low for bigger hauls. 1890Daily News 13 Oct. 7/1 A large Danish boarhound..knocked a little boy..down, laid on him, and bit him over the eye. 1894W. T. Stead If Christ came to Chicago! 225 The Democrats laid low and said nothing, for reasons of their own. 1900F. Anstey Brass Bottle vi. 80 ‘They're all layin' down on the road opposite our door.’ 1907M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness iv. iii. 359 He..laid low for the first passer-by, and slugged him.
b. Naut. To put oneself in the position indicated by the accompanying phrase or adv., e.g. to lay at anchor, to lay by the wind. (See also lay along, lay by, lay in, lay out, etc. in branch VIII.) to lay on the oars, to cease rowing.
1530Palsgr. 605/1, I ley at anker, as a shyppe dothe, je ancre. 1549Edw. VI Jrnl. (Roxb.) II. 227 Thei laying at anker bett the French. 1670A. Roberts Adventures of T.S. 8 He commanded to lay by the Wind, until the Ships came within Call. 1830Marryat King's Own xlvi, The boats laid upon their oars. 1881L. R. Hamersly Naval Encycl. s.v., To lay is used (although incorrectly) in the sense of to go or come; as lay forward, lay aft, lay down from aloft, lay out on the yards, etc. 1894C. N. Robinson Brit. Fleet 181 Captains are saluted by laying on the oars (in other words ceasing to row).
VIII. With adverbs in specialized uses.
44. lay about.
†a. trans. To surround, beset.
14..Arth. & Merl. (Percy MS.) 2452 (Kölbing), A 100 Sarazens on a rowte Att once layd him all about. 1555J. Proctor Wyat's Reb. 33 b, The lorde Aburgaueny and the shiriffe..deuised to laye the countree aboute, that they [Wyat and others] mought not escape.
†b. intr. To contrive, plan, take measures (to do something); to look out or make a search for.
a1618Sylvester Mayden's Blush 66 Hee labours, and hee layes-about..that dear Issue to exterminate. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay about, in order to get an Office, briguer, rechercher un Emploi. 1755J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 176 She therefore laid about for a proper person to dispatch as an emissary to accomplish this design.
†c. To strike out with vigour; = to lay about one (32 e). Obs.
[c1330Arth. & Merl. 2874 (Kölbing) About he leyd on so hard, Þat his swerd brast atvo.] 1607Rowlands Hist. Guy Warwicke 29 He drew his sword, and laid about. 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 799 But when his nut-brown Sword was out Couragiously he laid about.
45. lay abroad. trans. To spread out; to set out for view; to spread (a net). Obs. exc. arch.
1530Palsgr. 601/1, I laye abrode clothes in the sonne to be ayred or dried... I laye abrode, as hunters or fysshers do their nettes... I laye abrode monay, or vessell, or bookes to be vewed, je mets au large. 1535[see abroad adv. 1 c]. 1570Baret Alv. L 54 To laie abroade hey in the sunne to drie. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxiv. 395 Hauing layed abroade these bones. 1883R. W. Dixon Mano i. xvi. 50 For he abroad capacious nets had laid.
†46. lay along.
a. trans. To stretch at full length (also, all along); hence, to lay low, prostrate; to destroy, overthrow, kill.
1413,1761[see along adv. 6]. 1597A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 35 b/1 Shee is without all strength, cleane layed a-longe. 1599Withals' Dict. 62 b, To ouerthrow, lay along, and destroie, sterno. 1697Dryden æneid i. 266 The Leaders first He laid along.
b. intr. (Naut.: see 43 b.) Of a ship: To lean over with a side wind. (Cf. lie along.)
1779Barnard in Phil. Trans. LXX. 107 That leakage, washing from side to side, will cause the ship to lay along.
†47. lay apart. trans. To put aside or away from one; to omit purposely (to do something.)
1526Tindale Jas. i. 21 Wherfore laye a parte all filthynes [so 1611]. c1530L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 52 All maters of the law layd for the tyme vtterly a part. 1563Homilies ii. Rogation 1, Wee shall..lay apart to speake of the profound and unsearchable nature of Almighty God, rather acknowledging our weakenesse, then rashly to attempt [etc.]. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. Introd. 3 Lay now thy..bow apart. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. iv. 78 That you diuest your selve and lay apart The borrowed Glories.
48. lay aside. trans.
a. To put away from one's person (as a garment, weapon, or the like); to put on one side.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 615 They moste..leye a lyte hir holinesse asyde As for the tyme. 1540Coverdale Fruitf. Less. To Rdr. (1593) A 4 b, The old Adam ought we to lay aside. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Condo, Seponere & condere, to lay aside and locke vp. 1595,1611[see aside 3]. 1781D. Williams tr. Voltaire's Dram. Wks. II. 140 A father cannot lay aside the father. 1824–9Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 321 On entering the apartment of the women of your country, you lay aside both slipper and turban. 1849Aytoun Poems, Buried Flower 181 Death had laid aside his terror. 1890Lippincott's Mag. May 632 The editor laid aside the last proof-sheet.
b. To reject or dismiss from one's consideration or action; to abandon or postpone (a design), discontinue (an occupation).
1440[see aside 4]. 1470–85Malory Arthur iv. xx. 145, I praye to god that he send yow honour and worship. A said the Knyghte I may laye that on syde. 1530Palsgr. 605/1, I ley away, or I laye asyde my worke to loyter. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) To Gentlew. Lond. 60 When our good desires are once laide aside. 1607[see aside 4]. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 207 After sunne set, all this while the women lay aside their worke. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 66 So the design of the rising was laid aside. 1766Brooke Fool of Quality (1792) I. 152 Laying Peter aside, who think you was the greatest hero among the moderns? 1824Mackintosh Sp. Ho. Comm. 1 June, Wks. 1846 III. 417, I think myself entitled to lay aside..the testimony of the coachman. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xxv. 237 The burghers laid aside their revelries.
†c. To put out of the way, get rid of. Obs.
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. v. 275 Quhen he had pacifiet his cuntrey, layd asyde his alde ennimies [etc.]. 1708Swift Sent. Ch. Eng. Man Wks. 1755 II. i. 77 When a prince was laid aside for male-administration. 1726–31Tindal Rapin's Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 110 To lay aside this troublesome Regent.
d. To set apart for a purpose.
1711Addison Spect. No. 58 ⁋1, I intend to lay aside a whole Week for this Undertaking.
e. pass. To be incapacitated for work by illness.
1879Shairp Burns 172 At this crisis his faithful wife was laid aside, unable to attend him. 1901Punch 3 Apr. 262/1 More than once laid aside by break down of health.
49. lay away. trans.
a. = lay aside 48 a, b.
a1400Ipomedon (Kölbing) 338/7 He laid a way his horne & his hunter clothes & armed him all in white. 1526Tindale Heb. xii. 1 Lett vs..laye a waye all that preseth vs doune, and the sinne that hangeth on vs. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 70/2 They were..readie to laie awaie their armour and weapons. 1581Savile Tacitus, Hist. iv. (1612) 140 That passion, amongst all other, euen of wise men is last layed away. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 4 [They] laid away..the fashion of wearing linen coats. 1641Chas. I in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 457 That laying away all disputes, you go on chearfully and speedily for the Reducing of Ireland. 1845Longfellow Belfry of Bruges, Curfew ii. 4 The book is completed, And closed, like the day; And the hand that has written it Lays it away.
b. To bury. ? U.S.
1885M. E. Wilkins in Harper's Mag. Mar. 594/1 It was hardly six months since my poor sister was laid away.
c. Tanning. To place (hides) flat in a vat to steep in strong tan liquor for a long period, as the final stage in the process of tanning. Also intr. of the hides. Cf. lay-away 1.
1885C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather xix. 368 In tanning heavy upper leather the practice..is to first handle the sides on sticks for ten or twelve days, and then lay them away twice in bark. 1901F. T. Addyman tr. Villon's Pract. Treat. Leather Industry 139 Time required for Laying Away.—The hides are removed from the pit and put back three times so that the tan may be renewed. 1922A. Rogers Pract. Tanning x. 302 The hides are sometimes rocked throughout the early stages up to the time when they are laid away. 1966G. H. W. Humphreys Manuf. Sole & Other Heavy Leathers vii. 120 The goods may be laid away, but rarely these days with bark or other ground material as was the practice in former days when ‘layers’ were in general use.
50. lay by.
a. trans. = lay aside, 48 a, b; † also = lay aside, 48 c.
1439in Rymer Fœdera (1710) X. 727/2 That Matiere..was so lightly laide by at Arras and noon Inclination shewed therto. c1585R. Browne Answ. Cartwright 6 He must..laye by his proofe as vntrue. 1599Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 64, I am forc'd to lay my reuerence by. 1644Milton Areop. (Arb.) 38 Leaving it to each ones conscience to read or to lay by. 1674Ray Collect. Words, Prepar. Tin 123 The cinder or slag..they take off with a shovel and lay it by. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. 507 These were for laying honest David by On principles of pure good husbandry. 1709Steele Tatler No. 47 ⁋7, I shall therefore lay by my Drama for some Time. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough I. 118 It was Pity that so able a Man..should be laid by, as useless and forgotten. 1781Cowper Conversat. 670 It views the truth with a distorted eye, And either warps or lays it useless by. 1798Landor Gebir i. 51 His buckler and his corslet he laid by. 1867J. B. Rose tr. Virgil's æneid 233 Lay by your wonted tasks.
b. To put away in store; to store up; to save (money). Also absol.
1786Burns To Auld Mare xvii, A heapit stimpart, I'll reserve ane Laid by for you. 1825New Monthly Mag. XVI. 312 Of her twelve hundred a-year, she regularly lays by two-thirds. 1853Lytton My Novel iv. v, It is a great sum,..but I will lay by, as you are kind enough to trust me. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 501 Persons who had laid by money would rather put it into the Bank. 1873H. Spencer Stud. Sociol. xv. 367 Few of them lay by in anticipation of times when work is slack.
c. To put away for future disposal or for safety.
1719De Foe Crusoe i. xiv. (1840) 239, I perceived..two miserable wretches dragged from the boats, where, it seems they were laid by, and were now brought out for the slaughter. 1821Keats Isabella lii, She wrapped it up; and for its tomb did choose A garden-pot, wherein she laid it by. 1893Field 25 Feb. 297/3 She has not been put afloat yet, but is laid by till open weather sets in.
d. pass. To be ‘laid aside’ by illness (cf. 48 e).
1782Macqueen in Med. Commun. I. 69 They are..seized with a Catarrh.., which rages so fast that in twenty-four hours, every individual..is..laid by. 1825–80Jamieson, To Lay By. 1. To overdo, to make unfit for work;..2. To be confined by ailment; as, ‘He's laid by’. 1889A. V. Carr Marg. Maliphant I. xii. 237 Father is often laid by, and unable to go round the farm.
e. intr. (Naut.) = lay to (58 c).
1697Lond. Gaz. No. 3287/3 They all laid by a considerable time, and then making Sail stood to the Westward. 1741S. Speed in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 395 Their not hoisting their colours..and..not laying by for us.
f. To work (a crop or field) for the last time, before leaving it to grow without further husbandry. U.S.
1759J. Gordon Jrnl. 12 July in William & Mary College Q. (1902) 1st Ser. XI. 106 Mowing oats & laying by corn. 1784J. F. D. Smyth Tour U.S.A. II. 127, I was also accustomed to sow a quantity of faulty wheat..in my tobacco grounds, when I gave them the last ploughing, or laid them by. 1835J. H. Ingraham South-West II. 285 The ploughing generally ceases and the crop is ‘laid by’ about the last of July. 1868Rep. Iowa Agric. Soc. 1867 158 The ground should be thoroughly rolled;..then lay by with barshear plow. 1947Democrat 25 Dec. 3/4 This year when the corn was ‘laid-by’ the crotalaria came up voluntarily.
51. lay down. trans.
a. To put (something that one is holding or carrying) down upon the ground or any other surface; to put off, discard (a garment, armour). to lay down (one's) arms: to surrender.
c1205Lay. 5070 Leie a-dun þin hære scrud & þinne rede sceld, and þi sper longe. a1300Cursor M. 3296 Mi hernes dun heir did i lai. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints i. (Petrus) 224, I did as myn moder saide, In þe corn myn howk doun lade, and bad it do þat do sulde I. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 165 Lay doun thy swerd, and I wil myn alswa. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 423 That with al spede they laye downe theyr weapons, and devise some meanes of concorde. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 451 note, They laid down their arms, and put on mourning. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxvii, She laid down the cup of tea. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. 142 Eighteen thousand French soldiers laid down their arms to the raw army that had defeated them at Baylen.
b. To resign, relinquish (office, power, dignity, hopes, etc.; † also absol. = to retire from office, etc.); † to discard, cease to bear (a name), discontinue, ‘drop’ (a custom, fashion); † to give up the wearing or use of.
c1205Lay. 2037 Þa leodene..leiden adun þene noma, & Trinouant heo nemneden. 13..Sir Tristr. 1187 Tristrem he gan doun lain, And seyd tramtris he hiȝt. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 62 Ladyes..that..hadde highe hornes, the whiche the holy man beganne to reprove, and yeue diuerse ensaumples to make hem to be layde doun. 15..in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 327 In hairt be blytht and lay all dolour doun. 1577Harrison England ii. xii. (1877) i. 236 Horne in windows is quite laid downe in euerie place. 1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiii. (1623) 752 Those consultations of the Laitie were laide downe. 1682Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 176 There is a discourse..that the lord chanceller will lay down, and be succeeded by the lord cheif justice Pemberton. 1697Dryden æneis xi. 473 What Hopes you had in Diomede, lay down. 1714Addison Spect. No. 556 ⁋1 Upon laying down the Office of Spectator. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 461 They [the clergy] seemed now to lay down all fears and apprehensions of Popery. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xiii. (1840) 226 It was a good retreat for those that were willing to leave off, and lay down. 1778Johnson Let. to Boswell 3 July, He has laid down his coach, and talks of making more contractions of his expense. 1826Scott Woodst. vii, Will he lay down his power?
c. To place in a recumbent or prostrate position. Often refl. († in early use conjugated with to be). † Also, to bring to bed of a child (cf. 2 above).
[a1225Ancr. R. 288 Hwon þe heorte..leið hire salf aduneward, & buhð him ase he bit.] c1250Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. (1872) 32 Ure lord was i-leid him don to slepe. a1300Cursor M. 15675 Ful buxumli he laid him don apon þat erth bare. c1450Merlin 88 She is now leide down in hir bedde of a childe male. 1481Caxton Reynard xxxvii. (Arb.) 104 Tho wente he and leyd hym doun vnder a tre in the grasse. 1535Coverdale Ps. iv. 8 Therfore wil I laye me downe in peace, & take my rest. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iii. 40 The slye whorsons Haue got a speeding tricke to lay downe Ladies. 1781–3Cowper Alex. Selkirk 50 The sea⁓fowl is gone to her nest, The beast is laid down in his lair. 1791― Odyss. x. 64 Around my head Winding my mantle, [I] lay'd me down below. 1816Wolfe Burial Sir J. Moore 29 Slowly and sadly we laid him down.
d. To put down (money) as a wager or a payment; † to pay (a debt).
14..Lydg. London Lyckpeny, Lay down your sylver, and here you may speede. 1464–5Manners & Househ. Exp. Eng. (Roxb. 1841) 487 Paid to Robart Klerke that he leid doune, xijd. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 246 b, Besydes those..Dukates, whyche he hathe alreadye defrayde [he] shall laye downe as muche more at Venise. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 137 What shall we laye downe? What shall we stake? 1623Donne Lett. (1651) 230 He writ to me that 81 would discharge him, and that Mr Selden would lay down half. a1640Massinger Very Woman ii. i, I have done nothing..that may justly claim A title to your friendship; and much less Laid down the debt which..not I but mankind Stands bound to tender. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables, Life of æsop (1708) 15 Lay down the Money upon the Nail, and the Business is done.
e. To sacrifice (one's life).
1611Bible John x. 15, xv. 13. 1781 Cowper Expostul. 536 To waste thy life in arms or lay it down In causeless feuds. 1862Temple Bar VI. 190 Ready..to lay down fortune, freedom, and perhaps life itself, for their sake.
f. † To put down, overthrow (obs.). Also Naut. of wind or sea: To make (a vessel) lie on her side.
c1205Lay. 551 A londe & a watere he heom adun leaide. a1225Leg. Kath. 773 Ȝef me is ileuet þurh mi leoue lauerd for to leggen ham adun. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4415 He [Antichrist] sal drawe til hym bathe lered and lewed, And crysten law sal be doun layde. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 10 Lest here ypocrisie be parceyued and here wynnynge and worldly fame leid a-doun. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 237 Foure þowsand of Spartanes fil uppon hem and leyde adoun and slouȝ of hem þre dayes to gidres. 1745P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 24 A raging Sea took us..with that Violence that it..laid down the Ship in a Manner quite on her Side.
g. To construct (roads, railways, ships). Also to lay down a keel.
1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1127 Levelling instrument..intended..for laying down railroads and highways. 1884Leeds Mercury 15 Nov. 6/6 It is not..intended to lay down any new ironclads at present. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. 240 Brunel laid down the Great Western. 1897Daily News 23 Jan. 3/5 Her keel will be laid down in the course of a week or two.
h. To establish, formulate definitely (a principle, rule); to prescribe (a course of action, limits, etc.).
to lay down the law: to declare what the law (with regard to something) is; hence colloq. to make dogmatic statements, esp. in argument.
1493Festiall (W. de W. 1496) 1 b, Holy chirche leyth downe songes of melody as Te deum lau. Gloria in excelsis. 1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 63, I have determined..under this Narratory..title to lay downe my limits. 1628Earle Microcosm., Medling Man (Arb.) 89 Hee layes you downe a hundred wild plots, all impossible things. 1676Glanvill Ess. iii. 13 Laying down Rules for solving some Cubick and Biquadratick Equations. 1712Berkeley Pass. Obed. §16 If the criterion we have laid down be true. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 273 He assured him he would pay the debt: But did not lay down any method of doing it. 1762Foote Orators i. i, I tell thee what, Ephraim, if thee can'st but once learn to lay down the law, there's no knowing what thee may'st rise. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. 238 We may now be allowed to lay down the law of redress against public oppression. 1845McCulloch Taxation i. iv. (1852) 127 It may be safely laid down that at all times a considerable number of occupiers of land are losing by their business. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. xv. 308 He laid down the conditions of the problem with perfect clearness. 1865Trollope Belton Est. xviii. 205 She endeavoured to..lay down for herself a line of conduct. 1885Mrs. C. Praed Affinities I. ix. 206 He was in the midst of an argument,..and was laying down the law in this fashion.
i. To set down or mark out (a plan) on paper; to delineate; † to describe (a geometrical figure).
1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 31 How to lay down a Triangle in a Circle. Ibid. v. 6 After you have taken the Angles..You must Protract or lay down the Figure. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. xvi. 448 Many shoals..that are not laid down in our Drafts. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §99, I was..laying down the measures of the rock upon paper. 1817Scott Search after Happiness iii, If Rennell has it not, you'll find, mayhap, The isle laid down in Captain Sindbad's map. 1853Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. i. 101 A map on which the drains of each field are laid down. 1890T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. 292 He now laid down clearly the island groups of the North Pacific.
†j. To put down in writing; to treat of. Obs.
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 67, I will laye downe vnto you some such corruptions and abuses, as seeme to be inormous. 1634W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. To Rdr., I have laid downe the nature of the Countrey, without any partiall respect unto it. 1659D. Pell Impr. Sea 131, I have laid down some of my thoughts about this word, They that go down. 1756Johnson Observ. St. Affairs Wks. 1787 X. 145 It is then a proper time..to lay down with distinct particularity what rumour always huddles in general exclamations, or perplexes by undigested narratives.
†k. to lay down by: to consider together with.
1614Raleigh Hist. World i. iii. §15 Lay down by those pleasures and benefits the fearful and dangerous thunders and lightnings,..with other inconveniences, and then there will be found no comparison between the one and the other.
l. To ‘run and fell’ (a seam); to trim, embroider. Obs. or arch.
1611Cotgr., Rentraire, to lay in, or lay downe, a seame. c1650Johnnie Armstrong vi. in Child Ballads (1889) III. 369 Ye shall every one have a velvet coat, Laid down with golden laces three. 1820Scott Monast. xiv, A scarlet cloak, laid down with silver lace three inches broad.
m. Agric. To convert (arable land) into pasture; to put under grass, etc. Const. in, to, under, with.
1608in N. Riding Rec. (1884) I. 122 For converting and laying down of 60 acres of arrable land in pasture. 1743R. Maxwell Sel. Trans. 52 It is a prodigious Error to overcrop Ground, before laying it down with Grass-seeds. 1789Trans. Soc. Arts I. 88 Seeds for laying down arable land to grass. 1844Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 64 The land is laid down with red or white clover. 1845Ibid. ii. 446 This ground was laid down with oats and grass. Ibid. VI. ii. 528, 14 acres laid down under gorse. 1879Escott England I. 59 Much of this land has been newly laid down to grass.
n. To store (wine) by putting it away in cellars.
1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxxvii, ‘That was laid down, when Mr. Linkinwater first come, that wine was’. 1878Besant & Rice Celia's Arb. xv. (1887) 108 A generous flow of port, of which every respectable Briton then kept a cellar, carefully labelled and laid down years before.
†o. To cause to subside; to pacify, appease. Obs.
1563W. Fulke Meteors (1640) 19 b, For who can affirme from whence it [wind] was raysed, or where it is laid downe? 1628Earle Microcosm., High-Spirited Man (Arb.) 92 A man quickly fired, and quickly laid downe with satisfaction.
p. Printing. ‘To put pages on the stone for imposition’ (Jacobi Printer's Vocab. 1888). Also (see second quot.).
1825Hansard Typographia 411 Having disposed, or ‘laid down’, the pages in this right order. Ibid. 769 To lay down a gathering, is to place the several heaps, with their signatures following each other, upon benches or forms of a proper height.
q. To deposit and fix (a coating). Also of a paving material. Hence, to cover (a surface) with something.
1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 95/1 The composition, which is elastic and very flexible, may be immediately laid down upon the japanned surface. 1893A. Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes (1894) 225 The corridor..was laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum.
r. Sporting slang. to lay himself (or simply lay) down to his work: of a horse, etc., to put all his strength into a race.
1885Howells Silas Lapham (1891) I. 63 The mare..understood the signal, and, as an admirer said, ‘she laid down to her work’. 1893Illustr. Sport. & Dram. News 20 May 375/1 He never seemed to fairly lay himself down to his work, and..Thomas won as he liked.
s. intr. To give up or submit; to break down or cease to act; to fail; to retire or withdraw. U.S.
1898Scribner's Mag. XXIII. 453/2, I swear I hate to lay down to such a nincompoop. 1901Merwin & Webster Calumet ‘K’ 64 You've never had to lay down yet, and you don't now. 1911H. S. Harrison Queed vii. 87 Your body's got to carry your mind around, and if it lays down on you [etc.]. 1923R. D. Paine Comrades of Rolling Ocean x. 193 ‘Any water leaking in?’ ‘A trickle under the floor, but the bilge pump will take care of it unless she lays down on me.’ Ibid. xvii. 293 You stand by me and I won't lay down on you. 1927Cleveland Press 4 Feb., Offered him a bribe to ‘lay down’ on the prosecution of George J. McKay, alleged arch-swindler.
t. To set up or establish (a certain beat). Jazz slang.
1950Blesh & Janis They all played Ragtime viii. 149 The backwoods pianists ‘laid down the beat’ and ‘stacked the blues’. Ibid. x. 194 He laid down a terrific stomp. 1959‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene vi. 104 The ‘rhythm section’ laid down a rock-firm beat. 1968Melody Maker 6 Apr. 8/4 The soloist can play anything he chooses to play on the time that I lay down for him. 1968Blues Unlimited Sept. 23 Preston..takes a few vocals, and lays down some swinging rhythm guitar.
52. lay forth.
†a. To stretch out in a prostrate position; to bring out and display openly.
c1420Chron. Vilod. 1840 (Horstm.) For alle thyng as forthe redy þerto y-leyde. c1430Hymns Virg. 76 Now mote y leie forþ my necke, For deeþ his swerd out haþ lauȝte. 1535Coverdale 1 Macc. iii. 48 They..layde forth the bokes of the lawe. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. Introd. 2 Lay forth out of thine everlasting scryne The antique rolles, where they lye hidden still. 1630in Descr. Thames (1758) 65 No Fisherman..shall at any Time hereafter ship their Draw-Nets..into their Boats, before such time as they have laid forth all their whole Net. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 259 Grots and Caves..'ore which the mantling Vine Layes forth her purple Grape.
†b. To put or bring forward in argument or the like; to expound; to make patent; to expose. Also refl. to expatiate upon.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 115 Many a subtil resoun forth they leyden. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 1, I will..laie foorth vnto you..those things which a godly man ought to think. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 191 Those wonderful mercies of God wch haue been now laid forth unto you. 1665J. Spencer Vulg. Proph. Pref., The present Undertaking to lay forth the impostures wrapt up in this..instance of Enthusiasm. 1692R. L'Estrange Fables xiii. (1708) 16 [The Fox] lays himself forth upon the Gracefulness of the Raven's Person [etc.].
†c. To spend, expend, lay out. Obs.
1584Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 16 Item laid forthe by the said churchwardens, the xxvij day of June for fower lams, vjs. ijd. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 318 She shall not..lay up treasure for the inriching of herselfe but shall distribute it rather and lay it forth for the benefit of Gods Saints. 1649Liberties & Customes of Myners C, He shall pay 4s. for the twelve mens dinners, and the Barmaster to lay forth the mony.
d. ? To spread out with a view to ornament; to deck, array. Now dial. Cf. lay out (56 j).
1656Artif. Handsom. 115 How do they exclaime..against braiding or laying forth, and powdering, or colouring their haire? 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Laid out, Laid forth, Decked out, arrayed, ‘got up’.
53. lay in.
a. trans. See simple senses and in. † to lay in an oar, mentioned as an accompaniment of setting sail; also absol. (in quot. c 1300). to lay in the oars: to unship them.
c1300Havelok 718 Sone dede he leyn in an ore, And drou him to þe heye se. 13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 106 Þay layden in on laddeborde & þe lofe wynnes. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 37 At the moment when the thorne was drawen fro the crowne he took hys syght, and whan it was layed in ageyn he recouuerd his heeryng. a1592Greene Geo. a Greene (1599) E 4, [Shoemaker speaks in the road] Stay till I lay in my Tooles. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) C cc b, Leve-rame! Unship the oars! the order to the rowers to lay in their oars. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lay in the oars, unship them from the rowlocks, and place them fore and aft in the boat.
b. To place in store; to provide oneself with a stock of. Also said of ‘taking in’ food; hence absol. to feed vigorously (now vulgar). † Also occas. to put stores into, stock (a place).
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 297/2 If a man bee giuen to quaffing and laying in, he careth not..howe other be prouided for. 1625Bacon Ess., Plantations (Arb.) 532 And to be Laid in, and Stored vp, and then Deliuered out in Proportion. 1662W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. (1669) 308/2 We see in a Town besieged, though it be well laid in with Corn..what straits they are soon put to. 1677Lady Chaworth in Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. v. 37, I have laid you in some beare. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 246 They observe this Maxim, Always to lay in Ballast, they eating heartily. 1709Addison Tatler No. 131 ⁋3 A great Magazine of Wines that he had laid in before the War. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 589 The rustic Jacobites were laying in arms. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xvi. xi. (1872) VI. 277 So soon as we have horses, it will not appear strange that we lay-in a little hay. 1889‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms vii, Then..the eggs and bacon—my word! how Jim did lay in.
†c. To put in (a claim). Also absol.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 123 The County of Tripolis layd in for himselfe, that he was discended from Raymund of Tholous. 1710Addison Whig Exam. No. 5 ⁋2 After this short preface by which..I lay in my claim to be a Politician, I shall enter on my discourse. 1734N. Hampsh. Prov. Papers (1870) IV. 842 There is a new Church erected at the South end of Boston and they are laying in for Mr. Brown. 1747Mem. Nutreb. Crt. I. x. 169 She applied to the then acting ministers, laying in her claim to her principality.
†d. intr. To scheme or exert oneself to do something. to lay in for: to make one's object, lay oneself out for, exert oneself to gain. Obs.
1599Sir E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1629) 178 There is scant any office or estate can fall void, but they lay in by all meanes to get into it. 1642Rogers Naaman 502 If thou lay in for faith, come with an heart empty of other thoughts. 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. To Rdr., If I happen to please the more moderate sort, I shall be sure of..the best judges..And I confess I have laid in for those, by rebating the satire..from carrying too sharp an edge.
e. trans. (Agric.). To enclose or reserve (a meadow) for hay. Cf. 60 b (b).
1600Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1816) IV. 228/1 Þatt all persones quha hes teillit..ony pairt..of his maiesteis..or vtheris commounteis..That they within ȝeir & day..lay in the samyn commounteis agane. 1727Cowell's Law Dict. s.v. Falcatura, Meadows hay'd, or laid in for Hay. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 387 The proportion of hay is not great, the meadows are ‘laid in’ in April and May.
f. Gardening. (a) To place in position (the new wood of a trained tree). (b) (See quot. 1898.)
1802W. Forsyth Treat. Fruit-trees 31 It is too common a practice to lay-in the shoots at full length. 1890Blackmore Kit III. xiv. 185, I can lay a tree in straight enough, but I am out of my line telling things. 1898Wright & Dewar Johnson's Gardener's Dict. 548/2 Laying-in is a gardener's term for training the branches of espaliers and wall-trees. Laying-in-by-the-heels is his mode of describing a plant's having the roots roughly buried in the soil for some temporary purpose.
g. Printing. (See quot.)
1683Moxon Printing 383 When the Press-man lays Sheets on the Tympan, it is stiled Laying in Sheets.
†h. ? To put (hounds) into cover. Obs.
1735Somerville Chase ii. 150 Here, Huntsman, bring..all thy jolly Hounds, And calmly lay them in.
i. To paint (a picture or some of its parts) in the first unfinished stage.
1676Beale Pocket bk. in H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 135 Moneys paid my son Barth. for work, laying in the draperys of his mother's pictures. 1784J. Barry in Lect. Paint. vi. (1848) 215 Painting upon a darkish ground..will..tend to..destroy the purity..of all your lighter tints, particularly if you do not employ a great body of colour in the laying them in. 1859Sala Gas-light & D. ii. 24 The whitewasher..is summoned to ‘lay in’ the great masses of colour. 1886Pall Mall G. 8 Oct. 4/2 An artist ‘laid in’ a picture for an amateur, who muddled on with it for awhile and got it accepted at the Academy, but the artist who had laid the picture in was himself rejected.
†j. To lay (a cloth); = sense 35 b. Obs.
1788G. Colman Jr. Ways & Means i. i, The cloth is laid in for breakfast.
†k. To ‘run and fell’ (a seam). Obs.
1611[see 51 l].
l. To deliver, ‘get in’ (a blow); to shed, ‘turn on’ (tears).
1809Malkin Gil Blas ii. ii. ⁋5 Jacintha was by his bed⁓side, laying in her tears by wholesale. Ibid. vii. i. ⁋9, I had no sooner laid in this home stroke [etc.]. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. xiii. (1872) VI. 107 A sharp brush of fighting; not great in quantity, but laid-in at the right moment.
m. To discontinue working (a colliery).
1846M. A. Richardson Local Historians' Table-bk. V. 78 Several collieries having been laid in this day. 1896Daily News 28 Sept. 7/5 The miners at Haswell Colliery, county Durham, finished bringing their gear to bank on Saturday, and the pits are now laid in.
n. intr. (Naut.) To come in from the yards after reefing or furling. (Cf. lie in.)
1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 46 The outside men will lay out and unclamp the booms,..then lay in again.
54. lay off.
†a. trans. To take off, take away; to put off or remove from oneself.
c1592Marlowe Massacre Paris (? 1600) B 4, Thou traitor Guise, lay of thy bloudy hands! 1628tr. Tasso's Aminta i. i. B 4 Stay for me till I haue in yon fresh fount Layd off the sweat and dust that yesterday I soyld me with. a1631Donne Serm. lxxxviii. IV. 121 St. Gregory says that the Soul had laid off..all outward ornaments. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., To lay off a Garment, quitter un habit. 1919H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill ii. 46 She took me up to her little bedroom to lay my things off and then down to the parlour.
†b. Naut. To steer (a ship) away from the shore. Also intr., to remain stationary outside a harbour.
1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 52 Lay her a hold, a hold, set her two courses off to Sea againe, lay her off. 1781Jefferson Corr. Wks. 1859 I. 291 Eight of them had got over the bar, and many others were laying off.
c. To mark or separate off (plots of ground, etc.); to plot out land in some way or for some purpose.
1748Washington Jrnl. 30 Mar., This Morning began our Intended business of Laying of[f] Lots. 1765A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iii. vi. (ed. 2) 400 Laying off land, after a very few crops of corn, into grass for pasture. 1795J. Phillips Hist. Inland Navig. 357 The partial hand of nature has laid off America upon a much larger scale than any other part of the world. 1801A. Ranken Hist. France I. 442 They..directed that the streets should be laid off obliquely. 1847Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. ii. 370 Care must be taken..to lay off the land in broad flats. 1890Harper's Mag. Nov. 870/2 Laying parterres off in fanciful designs with little shells.
d. To ‘set off’ (distances) upon a surface.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 393/2 Lay off the dimensions of the waste rail found in the table; and..draw a line [etc.]. 1859Ruskin Perspective xvii. 79 The dividing points..will lay off distances on the retiring inclined line. 1882Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 2 By laying off the different times along Ox.
e. Shipbuilding. To transfer (plans) from the paper in the full size on the floor of the mould-loft.
1863P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 139 The chief draftsman and his assistants ‘lay off’, or draw all the lines on the mould-loft floor, to the full size. 1893Field 25 Feb. 297/2, I..advise that the boat be ‘laid off’ at full size and batten-faired.
f. orig. dial. and U.S. To discontinue; to discontinue the working of; to dismiss (a workman), usually temporarily. Also intr., to take a rest.
1841Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. II. ii. 181 It is removed at intervals, chiefly in frost, when ploughing is laid off. 1863W. Whitman Specimen Days (1882–3) 41 Some of the men are cleaning their sabres.., some brushing boots; some laying off, reading, writing. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Laid off, applied to a person who from illness or other disablement is incapable of working as usual. 1886H. James Bostonians I. iii. 26 She would expect him to be strenuous in return; but he couldn't—in private life, he couldn't; privacy for Basil Ransom consisted entirely in what he called ‘laying off’. 1888Daily News 17 Sept. 2/7 One of the leading works in the district at Darlington has been laid off by a strike. 1892Nation (N.Y.) 25 Aug. 135/1 To give notice of intention to ‘lay off’ any hands in their employ. 1897W. D. Howells Landlord at Lion's Head 65 When the husbands come up Saturday nights, they don't want to go on a tramp Sundays. They want to lay off and rest. 1955Times 6 June 7/2 But in the course of this week stocks in some factories will begin to run out. Workers will have to be laid off. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 242 The lowest paid employees can be and are laid off. 1972Daily Tel. 1 Feb. 2/7 A pay strike by 500 clerical workers..has caused the company to lay off 2,500 car assembly workers.
g. (See quot. 1901.)
1901J. Black Illustr. Carpenter & Builder Ser.: Home Handicrafts 43 What painters term ‘laying off’, that is to say, going over the work with the brush uncharged with paint and with strokes all in one direction. 1945C. H. Eaton in Practical Painter & Decorator iii. 90 The laying off should be vertical, that is, from ceiling to floor.. on walls, and parallel with the main source of light on ceilings. 1951Good Housek. Home Encycl. 65/1 Do not attempt to ‘lay off’ or brush out the distemper as with paint or varnish. 1963W. Tee Painting & Decorating x. 77 Finally, you lay-off, which means brushing in the direction of the grain if you are painting wood, or in the longest direction if you are painting a metal gutter or pipe.
h. To desist from (doing something); to abstain from or stop using (something); to stop bothering or pestering (a person). Also intr., freq. as imp.: cut it out! stop it!
1908Kipling Lett. to Family ii. 17 The railways..had to find room somewhere..before Nature cried: ‘Lay off!’ 1919Amer. Mag. May 42/2 If you guys don't lay off of me I'll bounce the two of you. 1919Saucy Stories Aug. 107/2 She..resolved to ‘lay off the bright lights in the future’. 1930D. Hammett Maltese Falcon xviii. 221 Make him lay off me then. I'm going to fog him if he keeps it up. 1931E. Linklater Juan in America iii. vii. 259 Lay off that ritzy laugh or I'll sock you. 1934J. Agate More First Nights (1937) 59 You would think, wouldn't you, that Josephine, having done enough in the way of arousing suspicion, would lay off a little. 1934Wodehouse Right Ho, Jeeves vi. 60 Lay off the sausages. Avoid the ham. 1936― Laughing Gas iv. 49 That's all she's after—the title. For heaven's sake, Reggie, lay off while there's still time. 1946K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) xix. 316 ‘For God's sake, shut up!.. Lay off, Alec, lay off.’ Alec laid off. 1947‘N. Shute’ Chequer Board 62 Aw, lay off, Jim.—You're not in the South now. 1953J. Trench Docken Dead ii. 21 How does one set about telling one's senior officer to lay off one's friend's wife? 1968M. Richler in R. Weaver Canad. Short Stories 2nd ser. 160 ‘Oh, lay off,’ my father said. ‘Give the man air.’ 1974D. Gray Dead Give Away vi. 65 I'd lay off stirring up trouble for a bit if I were you.
i. Naut. and Aeronaut. To indicate (on a chart, etc.), to work out (a course). Cf. course n. 12.
1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 83 Always lay off Q.D.M.'s and Q.D.Y.'s as true bearings on your chart. 1943‘T. Dudley-Gordon’ Coastal Command 17 Drawing pencil lines which lay off courses of ships and aircraft, and indicate areas under patrol or to be searched. 1961F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 131 Lay off a course, work out a proposed course on a chart.
j. Of a bookmaker: to insure against a substantial loss resulting from (a large bet) by placing a similar bet with another bookmaker.
1951E. Kefauver Crime in Amer. (1952) xvi. 184 The Nevada bookies also protect themselves by laying off their biggest bets with out-of-state operators. 1974New Yorker 25 Feb. 72 An outside man..runs along the line of bookies and keeps an eye on the odds and lays off some of the money.
55. lay on.
a. trans. To impose (an injunction, penalty, tax); † to bestow (a name) upon. (In early use with dative pronoun as in 19 b.)
11..O.E. Chron. an. 1052 (Laud MS.) Þe folc ᵹeald heom swa mycel swa hi heom on leᵹden. c1175Lamb. Hom. 31 Bluðeliche he wule herkein þet þe preost him leið on. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3994 Sal ic non wurd muȝen forð-don, Vten ðat god me leið on. c1450Lonelich Merlin 988 (Kölbing) What name they scholden leyn hym vppon. 1813Gentl. Mag. May 429/2, I think laying on a tax would greatly enrich the public purse. 1833Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §64 The meeting is for the purpose of laying on an assessment. 1881Gardiner & Mullinger Study Eng. Hist. i. x. 185 Charles I had used the special powers entrusted to him..to lay on ship-money.
b. intr. To deal blows with vigour; to make vigorous attack, assail. (Formerly often with dative pronoun denoting the object of attack.)
c1205Lay. 13708 Mid sweorde leggeð heom on. a1225Juliana 17 Leggeð on se luðerliche on hire leofliche lich. c1330Arth. & Merl. 8445 (Kölbing) He laid on wiþ schourge and bad hir go. c1380Sir Ferumb. 1533 Lokeaþ þat ȝe legge hem an & sleþ hem a-doun wyþ myȝt. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1102 He dremeth theeues comen in And on his cofres knokke, & leye on faste. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. (1482) 299 Our men of armes..leyde on with stakes. 1530Palsgr. 601/2 Laye on, lay on upon the jade. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. i. viii. (1622) 14 They..laide them on with stripes. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 33 Lay on Macduffe, And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough. 1693Dryden Juvenal iii. (1697) 68 Answer, or answer not, 'tis all the same: He lays me on, and makes me bear the blame. 1698Vanbrugh Prov. Wife iv. iii, He came at us..and laid us on with a great quarter-staff. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xii, The pleasure of thrashing his enemy..was quite enough—and he laid well on. 1843Macaulay Lays Anc. Rome, Lake Regillus xxvii, I will lay on for Tusculum, And lay thou on for Rome! 1882Freeman in Stephens Life & Lett. (1895) II. 267, I fancy people will lay on more zealously for either of the extremes.
c. trans. To inflict (blows); to ply (the lash) vigorously. Also to lay it on (in quot. fig.).
a1400Octovian 1061 Ley on strokes with good empryse. 14..Libeaus Desconus 2056 (Kaluza) Ley on strokes swifte. 1611Beaum. & Fl. King & No King iv. ii. (1619) 53 You haue paid me equall, Heavens, And sent my owne rod to correct me with..Lay it on, Iustice, till my soule melt in me. 1656Baxter Reformed Pastor iii. i, We disgrace them to the utmost, and lay it on as plainly as we can speak. 1732Fielding Mock Doctor viii, Those blows..which I was oblig'd to have the honour of laying on so thick upon you. 1892Field 26 Nov. 799/3 A stirrup leather well laid on.
†d. intr. To set oneself vigorously (to do something).
1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 38 The hungrie dogs,..Layde on as fast her fleshye flankes to teare.
e. to lay (it) on: † (a) to be lavish in expense (obs.); (b) to pile on the charge for goods, etc.
1590Marlowe Edw. II (1598) E 4, Thou shalt haue crownes of vs t'out bid the Barons; And, Spenser, spare them not, lay it on. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 224 There's no iesting, laying on, tak't off, who [w]ill as they say, there be hacks. 1610― Temp. iii. ii. 160, I would I could see this Taborer, He layes it on. 1611Cotgr., Cocher sur la grosse taille, (as wee say) to lay it on, (take it off who as will;) to spend, or borrow, exceeding much. 1612Sir C. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 239 Here is..much preparations at this wedding for masks..one of eight lords and eight ladies, whereof my cousin An Dudley on[e], and two from the Inner Courts, who the[y] say will lay it on. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., I had a good Fortune, and laid on to some Tune, as long as it lasted.
f. To apply a coat of (paint, varnish, etc.) to a surface. Hence in phr. to lay (it) on thick, with a trowel, to be excessive in flattery, eulogy, etc.
1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 112 Well said, that was laid on with a trowell. 1601― Twel. N. i. v. 258 Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white, Natures owne sweet, and cunning hand laid on. 1611― Wint. T. v. iii. 49. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 379 Pulverized Gold lay'd on with gumme. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 95/1 The colours are tempered with oil and varnish, and the metallic powders laid on with gold size. 1842–59Gwilt Archit. §2233 All the first coats of plastering are laid on with this tool. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 51 Dyers first prepare the white ground and then lay on the dye of purple. 1893Law Times XCIV. 452/1 It is nauseous to hear the adulation of Mr. Neville, who laid butter on with a spade.
g. Agric. Of cattle: To ‘put on’, increase in (flesh); also absol.
1807Southey Espriella's Lett. (1808) I. 58 All the fat being laid on, as graziers speak, anew. 1813Vancouver Agric. Devon 229 This animal would lay on from the middle of May until the middle of November, about two score per quarter. 1840Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iii. 333 Well-bred sheep..lay on flesh quick.
h. Printing. To place the sheets of paper on the type to be printed. † Hence, to print an edition of (so many copies); intr. of a bookseller, ? to bespeak a number of copies from a printer (obs.).
1576in Stationers' Reg. (Arb.) II. 137 Licenced vnto him the praise of follie to print not aboue xvc of any impression with this condicon that any of the cumpany may laie on with him reasonablie at euery impression as they think good. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 383 Lay on, a phrase used for the Number of Books to be Printed. Thus they say, There is 1000, 2000, 3000, &c. Laid on. 1849Chambers Inform. II. 720/1 No alteration has been made in the manner of ‘laying on’ the paper.
i. To put (dogs) on the scent. Cf. 15 h. Also transf. in jocular use.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. iv. §20 Such hounds are easier laid on, then either rated or hollowed off. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xliii, How long we might have remained in this ridiculous position it is impossible to say, but for the incursion of three thriving farmers—laid on by the waiter I think—who came into the coffee-room. 1861Thackeray Four Georges iv. (1862) 186 But now I am ashamed to mount and lay good dogs on, to summon a full field, and then to hunt the poor game. 1863Kingsley Water-Bab. 68 Bring the dog here and lay him on. 1879Sala Paris Herself Again I. xvii. 276 The oldest waiters..had seemingly been ‘laid on’ to attend on the guests. 1891Field 7 Nov. 696/2 No horsemen got forward with the stag before the hounds were laid on.
†j. To trim, embroider. Cf. lay down (51 l). Also, to place (thread) on a material before couching it down with a separate thread.
1563–83Foxe A. & M. II. 2047/1 His Ierkin was laid on with gold lace faire and braue. 1880L. Higgin Handbk. Embroidery i. 8 ‘Japanese gold thread’..must..be laid on, and stitched down with a fine yellow silk. [1906A. G. I. Christie Embroidery & Tapestry Weaving viii. 166 A bunch of threads may be laid upon the material, and an open chain, buttonhole, or feather stitch worked over in order to fix it in place.] 1959Chambers's Encycl. V. 155/2 Couching or laid work is a form in which the threads are ‘laid’ on material and couched down with matching or contrasting colour.
k. To provide for the supply of (water, gas, etc.) through pipes from a reservoir; to provide (a telephone line). Hence, to make arrangements for, to provide (refreshments, entertainment, transport, etc.).
1845Punch 1 Mar. 100/1 Announcing that the water was going to be laid on when it wasn't. 1853Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XIV. i. 153 The water being laid on distributed itself beautifully and evenly over the surface. 1861Temple Bar III. 23 Fifteen shillings an hour, to say nothing of refreshments laid on gratis and supplied at discretion. 1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 319 Water in large quantities must be laid on in pipes. 1869St. Andrews Gaz. 7 Aug., The special wires which the Scotch papers have ‘laid on’ between London and Edinburgh. 1870Dickens E. Drood xxii. 170 There is two bedrooms..with gas laid on. 1885List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 17 At ‘The Clarendon’ in Brighton..they have a telephone laid on. 1909Chambers's Jrnl. July 477/2 A large supply of hydrogen prepared by a new process is laid on for inflation. 1940C. Gardner A.A.S.F. 84 Squadron Leader Dodds..said that he'd got my programme..laid on. ‘Laid on’ was the Army term for everything—and I found myself using it. 1944N. Coward Middle East Diary 103, I was unable to give a concert as the piano..had not been ‘laid on’. 1949Punch 13 May 636/2 Universities do not exist to lay on degree courses to follow the idiosyncratic requirements of a particular employer. 1959‘J. Welcome’ Stop at Nothing ix. 139 As usual he had everything laid on and a car was waiting. 1964E. O'Brien Girls in Married Bliss vi. 51 He'd have some hatchet-voiced secretary laid on to tell Kate some boring and familiar lie, like that he was in conference. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 185 Pack your night things in a small pack and get weaving, while I lay on transport. 1973E. Page Fortnight by Sea xvi. 177 Try and lay some coffee on. Plenty of it. Good and strong.
l. To give (something) to (a person). U.S. slang.
1942Amer. Mercury July 86 Lay de skin on me [shake hands], pal! 1952G. Mandel Flee Angry Strangers 244 He lays some on his buddies 'n they get to like it; right, Buster? 1960Time & Tide 24 Dec. 1599/3 I've fixed up a real wild basket of ribs and a bottle of juice, and I'd like you to fall by her joint and lay it on her. 1968New Yorker 18 May 45/2 He..took out a copy of his newest album. He wrote something on the back of it and picked up one of the hotel bills. ‘Let me just lay this album on the man downstairs. Maybe it'll keep him quiet for two or three days.’ 1970It 9–24 Apr. 8/4 Of course you can't lay advice on someone.
56. lay out.
a. trans. To extend at length; to take out and expose to view, to the air, etc.; to spread out in order; to lay so as to project outwards.
a1400–50Alexander 778 He layd owt a lang neke & hys hand likkys. 1500–20Dunbar Poems x. 45 Now spring vp flowris fra the rute..Lay out ȝour levis lustely. 1535in Vicary's Anat. (1888) I. 171 That they may have warnyng to lay owt theyre offal of theyre howses ynto the opon streates. 1580Sidney Ps. x. vi, O, with how simple look He ofte laieth out his hook! 1619R. Harris Drunkard's Cup 21 They bee buckt with drinke, and then laid out to bee Sunn'd and scornd. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing 383 Lay out Sheets. When the Press-man takes Sheets off the Tympan, and lays them on the Heap, it is stiled Laying out Sheets. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. v. 341 There is a frame laid out from her to windward. 1835Sir J. Ross Narr. 2nd Voy. xxxiii. 467 Laying out hawsers to warp her off when this should take place. 1849Thackeray Pendennis i, His letters were laid out there in expectation of his arrival. 1859H. T. Ellis Hong Kong to Manilla 239 Refreshments..were laid out in an adjoining room. 1890Conan Doyle Firm of Girdlestone xxxiii. 265 The deal table..was laid out roughly as for a meal.
b. To stretch out and prepare (a body) for burial; hence (slang) to stretch out in death, to lay low, to ‘do for’; fig. to put ‘hors de combat’; to knock (a person) unconscious; to kill.
1595A. Copley Wits, Fits & Fancies 195 One said to a little child whose father died that morning, and was layd out in a coffin in the Kitchin, Alas, [etc.]. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 36 If she that laies thee out sayes thou art a fair coarse. 1848Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton vi. (1882) 16/1 They reverently laid out the corpse—Wilson fetching his only spare shirt to array it in. 1891Harper's Mag. Oct. 777/2 Hydropathy gave him fits, and eclecticism almost lays him out. 1892Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker xxv. 417 He gave the wretched man an opiate that laid him out within ten minutes. 1894Nation (N.Y.) 22 Nov. 373/2 Never were so many demagogues laid out in one day as in the elections of a fortnight ago. 1829[see cold a. 1 c]. 1890in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang II. 9 Galletly was saying, ‘I've laid one out’ to the other prisoners... Witness also saw the knife, and there was blood on it. 1894Daily News 26 May 8/6 If you strike me I will lay you out. 1896Wells Jrnl. 3 Dec. 7/5 A disposition to ‘injure, maim, and lay out an opponent, especially if he be a valuable element in the opposing team’. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin xviii. 337, I gits rated up ten days ago,..death vacancy. Poor ole Byles got laid out, yer remember. 1929J. B. Priestley Good Companions iii. v. 589 ‘But do you mean to say he was laid out?’ he demanded... ‘On the jaw, I think you said?’ 1973Scotsman 21 Feb. 17/6 When they hit you with the word, cancer, it scares you to death. Boom! You're laid out. But I've learned a lot about cancer since then.
c. To spend, expend (money). Also absol.
c1449Pecock Repr. 91 If therto thei han eny expensis bifore leid out and mynystrid. 1486–1504Let. 7 Jan. in Denton Eng. in 15th C. (1888) 318 note D, Mane men wyll ley owt more to kepe vnder the pore th[en] for to helpe thaym. 1535Coverdale Isa. lv. 2 Wherfore do ye laye out youre moneye, for the thinge yt fedeth not. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 6 Bard. Will you giue me Money, Captaine? Fal. Lay out, lay out. 1610― Temp. ii. ii. 34 When they will not giue a doit to relieue a lame Begger, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian. 1615T. Tomkis Albumazar iii. v. F 3 b, Lay out some roaring oathes For me; I'le pay thee againe with interest. 1711Steele Spect. No. 54 ⁋2 Most of our Professors never lay out a Farthing either in Pen, Ink, or Paper. 1843Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 254, 2l. 10s. was more than I cared to lay out of my own money on the article. 1895Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 471 He laid out all his gains in purchasing land.
†d. To employ or exercise (powers, effort). Obs.
1651Baxter Saints' Rest iii. vi. §26 (ed. 2) 127 They..should lay out all their strength on the work of God. 1656Burton's Diary (1828) I. 24 If you do not lay out your especial endeavours in the things of God. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. v. i. (1848) 296 A mis-expence of his Time or Talents: whether they be laid out upon Speculative Notions in Theology, or [etc.]. 1711Addison Spect. No. 98 ⁋5 Nature has laid out all her Art in beautifying the Face. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 190 He..did not lay out his learning with the diligence with which he laid it in.
e. refl. † To exert oneself in, upon (obs.); to take measures, frame one's conduct with a view to effecting a purpose or gaining an object. Const. for, to with inf.
1659C. Noble Answ. Immod. Queries 1 The Grandees of our Nation, who laid out themselves to the utmost in their..contrivements for the peace..of their Country. 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 143 Who never fail'd..To lay themselves out, to supplant Each other Cousin-German Saint. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. I. 194 You shall often see even the learned..Divine lay himself out in explaining Things inexplicable. 1745Lett. in Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope (1746) 119, I will lay my⁓self out to know the Conduct and Conversation of all my Neighbours. 1757Burke Abridgem. Eng. Hist. i. iii. Wks. X. 228 If they discovered any provincial laying himself out for popularity. 1809Kendall Trav. II. xlvii. 147 A large proportion of the inhabitants lay themselves out to give entertainment. 1827Chr. Wordsw. K. Chas. Author Icon Basil. (1828) 140 The running off to quite a different matter..may fairly generate a suspicion, that the writer lays him⁓self out upon what is easy, and was not wanted. 1880T. Hardy Trumpet-Major xxii, Take it careless, my son,..and lay yourself out to enjoy snacks and cordials.
f. intr. With for: † To make a search for, look out for (obs.); to take measures to win or get. Also, to scheme, plan to effect some purpose.
1624T. Davies in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 140, I..began to lay out for those Books you writ for. 1656Stanley Hist. Philos. v. (1701) 169/1 Dionysius laid out to take him, but could not light on him. 1712–13Swift Jrnl. Stella 4 Feb., Lady Masham, who has been laying out for my acquaintance. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 397, I laid out for MSS, and searched into all offices. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 97 ⁋12 Women..most observed when they seem themselves least to observe, or to lay out for observation. 1813P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 82, I had given up all idea of this buck, having laid out for him since about August 30. 1834J. H. Newman Par. Serm. x. I. 150 To be seen of men, to lay out for human praise. 1867Howells Ital. Journ. 57 He laid out to go ashore the next time he came to Venice.
g. To display, exhibit, expose; to set forth, expound, demonstrate. ? Now rare.
c1440York Myst. xxvi. 251 Ȝoure langage ȝe lay oute to lang, But Judas, we trewly þe trast. 1661Marvell Corr. xxxii. Wks. 1872–5 II. 76 The King's Counsell is to be heard at our barr, to lay out euidence against the King's dead and liuing judges. 1666Pepys Diary 14 July, I wrote..to the Duke of York, laying out our want of money again. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 214 He..laid out the necessity of raising some more force for securing the quiet of Scotland. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) VI. 107 Sally was laying out the law, and prating away in her usual dictatorial manner. 1789C. Smith Ethelinde I. 94 Sir Edward..found it doubly delightful to lay out his whole soul in the soft and sensible society of Ethelinde. 1855Bain Senses & Int. i. i. §4 (1864) 7 The mode of laying out the subject that has occurred to an able physiologist. 1864Froude Short Stud. (1872) I. 2 Laying out his matter as easily..as if he had been talking to us at his own fireside.
h. To apportion (land) for a purpose; to plot or plan out (grounds, streets, etc.).
1608[see laying vbl. n. 1 b]. 1632MSS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Layd out on our selues and the land⁓measurer when we went to..laye out our land. 1689Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 298 An ordr for y⊇ laying out a Road from Philadelphia to Bucks County. 1705Addison Italy 1 The Mountains about the Town..laid out in beautiful Gardens. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xxviii, The garden..was large and well laid-out. 1799Scotland Described (ed. 2) 18 Pleasure-grounds have been in many places laid out. 1840Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iii. 259, I laid out the drains 30 feet apart. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 188 Those who laid out the city had never meant that it should be able to stand a regular siege. 1885Sir J. Bacon in Law Times Rep. LII. 509/2 The roads had been laid out, but were not completed.
i. To plan or map out; to set as a task or duty.
1742Richardson Pamela III. 295 Shall it be as Mrs. B. lays it out, or not? 1868Mrs. Whitney P. Strong viii. (1869) 97, I know..what she has laid out for herself to do. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xxxi. 412 In laying out plans for another month's holiday. 1879M. Pattison Milton ii. 29 Lycidas is laid out on the lines of the accepted pastoral fiction.
†j. To put (false hair) in order. Obs. (Cf. 52 d.)
1580Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 445 The haire they lay out groweth vpon their owne heads. 1656Artif. Handsom. 59 When she laid out the combings of her own or others more youthfull haire when her own..seemed lesse becoming her.
†k. Cards. (Piquet, Écarté, etc.) To discard, throw out (a card or cards) from one's hand.
1687Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To lay out his Cards, at Picket, faire son écart. 1727–52Chambers Cycl. s.v. Picquet, If one of the gamesters finds he has not a court card in his hand, he has to declare he has carte blanche, and tell how many cards he will lay out [etc.].
†l. intr. To incline and project outward. Obs.
1793Smeaton Edystone L. 195 Till the stones are cleared of the boat, the shears lay out considerably.
m. intr. (Naut.) To occupy a position on a yard towards the yard arms for the purpose of manipulating the sails. (Cf. lie out.)
1829Marryat F. Mildmay vii, The men laying out on the yards. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Laying or Lying out on a yard, to go out towards the yard-arms.
57. lay over. trans.
a. To overlay.
1535Coverdale Hab. ii. 19 It is layed ouer with golde and syluer. 1663Gerbier Counsel 84 The laying over a Wall, white in oil, twelve pence a yard. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 56 Sads, laid over with Boughs. 1732Ld. Tyrawly in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 381 Crimson velvet, laid all over with gold lace.
b. U.S. colloq. To miss, allow to pass by; to postpone; to lay a temporary embargo on.
1885A. Gray Lett. (1893) 772 At Las Vegas, New Mexico, we laid over one train, to rest and see the Hot Springs. 1890St. Nicholas Mag. Sept. 920/1, I know of tennis matches..that have been laid over for hours because of a sprained ankle. 1890Standard 20 Nov. 5/2 Great regions were ‘laid over’. They were taboo to the hunter until the fur animals had time to recover themselves.
c. ? U.S. colloq. To excel, to ‘put in the shade’.
1869B. Harte Luck Roaring Camp (1870) 15 They've a street up there in ‘Roaring’ that would lay over any street in Red Dog. 1876Mark Twain Tramp Abr. (1880) I. ii. 19 In scolding..a blue-jay can lay over anything, human or divine.
†58. lay to.
a. trans. To place in juxtaposition; to apply (a medicinal remedy) to the body; also to lay to one's ear, to listen to, obey; to lay to the deaf ear, to turn a deaf ear. Obs.
In the Wyclif quots. merely a literalism of translation.
1382Wyclif Eccl. viii. 16, I leide to [L. apposui] myn herte. ― Ecclus. ii. 4 Alle that to thee shul ben leid to [L. quod tibi applicitum fuerit]. c1400Rom. Rose 2660 Than shalt thou stoupe, and lay to ere, If they within a-slepe be. c1450Merlin 261 The carll leide to the deef ere. 1513Douglas æneis i. Prol. 488 To ilk cunnand wicht lay to my eir. 1551Turner Herbal i. F j b, The leues of this herbe layd to with salt. 1584Cogan Haven Health (1636) 25 Being laid to outwardly, as a medecine. 1601Holland Pliny II. 262 The leaues..of Ephedros brought into a liniment and laid too, do discusse and dissolue them. 1620Frier Rush 19 He made a great fire and set on the pot, and layed to the spit.
†b. To put or bring into action; to bring to bear; esp. in to lay to one's hand(s.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 841 Ley hond to, every man. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xxxix, Our lorde..layeth to his honde and smyteth down the deuyll. 1530Palsgr. 603/1, I laye to my hande to helpe that a thyng maye be doone. 1535Coverdale Ps. cxviii. [cxix.] 126 It is tyme for the (o Lorde) to laye to thine honde. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 233 With all hys force and power, he layeth to all hys munition. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 74 Lay too all the might you can make. 1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 251 Monster, lay to your fingers: helpe to beare this away. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 20 Lay to your armes, and help..afford.
c. intr. (Naut.) To come to a stationary position with the head towards the wind; = lie by.
1798Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) III. 20 The Terpsichore..continued to lay to under bare poles. 1866R. M. Ballantyne Shift. Winds xiii. (1881) 131 [He] was obliged to lay-to until daylight, as the weather was thick.
59. lay together.
a. trans. To place in juxtaposition; to add together; † to compare; † to put together, construct; † pass. to be composed of.
[a1300Cursor M. 29529 (Cott.) Þir pointes of cursing haf i said, and soth and scortly samen laid.] c1340Ibid. 550 (Fairf.) Of þer þinges þat I haue sayde was adam cors togeder layde. 1530Palsgr. 605/1, I ley styckes or brandes togyther, to make a fyre. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 469 That the same fyre whiche many yeares since they had layde together, myght nowe..breake out. 1565T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 74 All which numbres being layed together arising well toward to twenty thousand soules. a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 88 Whan he bringeth it translated vnto you, bring you forth the place of Tullie: lay them together: compare the one with the other. 1628T. Spencer Logick 114 To keepe a dore, and to dwell in the tents &c. are layd together. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. Author's Apol. 236 O then come hither, And lay my Book, thy Head, and Heart together. 1692Burnet Past. Care ii. 15, I will..lay both the Rules and the Reproofs that are in them together. 1707[see eye n.1 2 f]. 1727Boyer Fr. Dict. s.v., Lay his Words and Deeds together, comparez ses Paroles avec ses actions. 1853Ure Dict. Arts II. 562 A simpler..mode of..laying the strands together.
b. to lay..heads together: to confer together.
c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 554 The watyr foulis han here hedis leid To gedere. 1483Nottingham Rec. II. 393 [They] leyd theyr hedes to geder to vnderstand how they myght haue verrey evydence and Knolage. 1583Golding Calvin on Deut. clxxviii. 1108 If all the greatest Doctors of y⊇ world shold lay their heads together they coulde not attaine to the vnderstanding thereof. 1650R. Stapylton Strada's Low C. Warres viii. 5 Then laying their heads together..[they] created them a Generall. 1760Gray Corr. (1843) 210 We shall lay our heads together, and try if we cannot hammer out as good a thing about you. 1893Bookman June 83/1 [They] laid their heads together and gradually built up this picturesque mountain of lies.
†c. To concoct, compose (a story); also absol.
1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 770 At such time as the old mans fury was ouerpast, falling of purpose into talke with him about the matter, she laid together in her sons behalf, and alledged [etc.]. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 580 His story was so ill laid together, that the Court was ashamed to make use of it.
†d. intr. To engage (in combat). Obs.
c1205Lay. 5904 Heore wepnen weoren lihte heo leiden to-gadere & feorliche fuhten.
60. lay up.
a. trans. See simple senses and up; to put up and extend (one's limbs) on a couch; † to erect (a building); † to vomit, ‘throw up’ (obs.).
1570Googe Popish Kingd. iv. 53 And miserably they reele, till as their stomacke vp they lay. 1579–80North Plutarch (1676) 757 Antonius being queasie stomacked with his Surfeit he had taken, was compelled to lay up all before them, and one of his friends held him his Gown instead of a Bason. 1788J. May Jrnl. & Lett. (1873) 86 To-day finished laying up the house, and put on the roof. c1830Houlston Tracts No. 87. 11 Her daughter must go home, and lay up her legs till they got quite well.
b. Agric. (a) To throw up (land) in ridges as a preparation for sowing: often with compl., as dry, rough, in ridges. (b) To reserve for hay. Cf. 53 e.
1842Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. III. ii. 171 Every arable field which is laid up in ridges probably requires..to be drained. 1844Ibid. V. i. 167 After being fed the meadows are laid up, and in about six weeks produce an excellent crop of hay. 1852Ibid. XIII. i. 62 The land..is either sown with wheat at Michaelmas or laid up dry, for barley in the spring. 1883Froude Hist. Sketches 74 (Norway Fjords) There were forty or fifty acres of grass laid up for hay.
c. To deposit or put away in a place for safety; to store up (goods, provisions); to put by. Often absol. to save money. Also with immaterial obj. to lay up in lavender: see lavender n.2 2.
a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 184 Gret tresours up to leyn. c1400Rom. Rose 5680 They..ley not up for her living. 1526Tindale Luke i. 66 And all they that herde them layde them vppe in their hertes. ― 2 Cor. xii. 14 The children ought nott to laye vppe for the fathers and mothers. [So 1611.] 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 229 b, That the same should be laied up into a cheste fast locked. a1626Bacon New Atl. (1900) 9 The Strangers House is at this time Rich, and much aforehand; For it hath layd up Revenew these 37 yeares. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxvi. (1739) 115 It encourages men to gather and lay up, when they have Law to hold by what they have. 1690Locke Ess. Hum. Und. ii. x. §10 The faculty of laying up and retaining the ideas that are brought into the mind. 1709Steele Tatler No. 91 ⁋1, I have, by leading a very wary Life, laid up a little Money. 1736T. Lediard Life Marlborough III. 194 The Allies design'd to lay up large Magazines at Douay. 1879C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xx. 216 Lines which she had probably composed and laid up in her memory. 1879M. Pattison Milton xiii. 212 His poems he wished laid up in the Bodleian. 1885E. F. Byrrne Entangled I. i. xiii. 248 You could not bear the agony that would be laid up for you in an unhappy union.
†d. To place in confinement, imprison. Obs.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Carcer, Condi in carcerem, to be layed vp in [prison]. 1569in J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew App. (1857) 233 The messenger..was layed op by the helys. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. 240 Sweete Constable doth take the wondring eare, And layes it vp in willing prisonment. 1632Massinger City Madam i. iii, When laid up for debt.
e. To cause to keep indoors or in bed through illness; often in pass. to be (taken) ill, to keep one's bed. In recent colloquial use also intr., to take to one's bed.
1554Sir J. Mason in Tytler Edw. VI (1839) II. 456 The constitution of his body being so easy to be overthrown, as a little travel taken more than it be able to bear were enough to lay him up. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. i. iii. 7 Then there were two Cosens laid vp, when the one should be lam'd with reasons, and the other mad without any. 1676Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 32 This seveare weather which hath laid [me] up in the house this ten days. 1709Steele Tatler No. 82 ⁋5 While he was laid up with the Gout. 1771Foote Maid of B. iii. Wks. 1799 II. 230 My gout..lays me up for four or five months in a year. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxi. 117, I should be laid up for a long time, and perhaps have the lock jaw. 1877C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iii. xxv. 241 An attack of small-pox..laid him up for a short time. 1893A. S. Eccles Sciatica 49 Busy persons who can ill afford to lay up and be absent from their affairs for some days.
† f. To bury. Obs.
1581Savile Tacitus, Agric. (1622) 202 Yet wast thou laied vp with fewer teares. 1655E. Terry Voy. E. India 309 It [Pile] was begun by Achabar-sha..and finished by his Son, who since was laid up beside him.
g. To put away (a ship) in dock or some other place of safety. Also intr. for pass. or refl.
1667Pepys Diary 14 June, The counsel that brought us into this misery, by laying up all the great ships. 1701in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 309 Ships that are to be layd up. 1725De Foe New Voy. 18 At length we.. arrived again at the Port of St. Julian... Here we resolved to lay up for the winter. 1795Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 69 We must both soon be laid up to repair. 1838Thirlwall Greece IV. xxvii. 25 The Peloponnesians..laid up their fleet for the rest of the winter. 1849Tait's Mag. XVI. 158/1 The sands, on which a vessel is laid up, are minutely and beautifully detailed. 1885Times (weekly ed.) 11 Sept. 9/3 The ice-hulks and the swift yawls..moored and laid up in ordinary. 1890Murray's Mag. Oct. 469, I shall send the yacht round to Gosport to lay up.
transf.1855Dickens Dorrit i. xxiv, Mr. F.'s Aunt was, for the time laid up in ordinary in her chamber.
h. Ship-building. (See quot.)
1869E. J. Reed Shipbuilding x. 197 The heads of the rivets are generally laid-up, that is, are made close to the surface, against which they fit by a few heavy blows given by the workman.
i. Rope-making. = sense 37.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 28 Lay up the centre strands together, take the next two strands and lay them up together..; when you have laid it up to within ten inches of the end, lay both strands up together [etc.]. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 26 Gun gear [is] laid up left handed.
j. Naut. (intr.) To direct the course.
1832Marryat N. Forster xli, The French squadron..tacked and laid up directly for them. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 71 We neither could lay up for it, nor overhaul it.
k. Printing. (See quot. 1841.)
1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. 156 A form cannot be well laid up without plenty of water. 1841Savage Dict. Printing s.v., Before the letter of a worked-off form is distributed,..if the work be finished it is unlocked upon a board laid in the trough and well rinsed with water, while the compositor keeps working the pages backward and forward with his hands, and continues pouring water on them till the lye and ink are washed away..; this is termed laying-up.
†l. To surpass, excel. Obs.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 40 In suffering of hunger, thirst, heat, cold, labor and extremities, they wil laie up any nation in Europe.
m. To assemble or stack (plies or layers) in the arrangement required for the manufacture of plywood or other laminated material (usu. prior to bonding into a single structure).
1927Knight & Wulpi Veneers & Plywood xxvi. 286 Stock trucks..with suitable guides against which to jog layers of stock as the freshly glued plywood is laid up. 1942Wood & Linn Plywoods vii. 74 When working on thin 3-ply boards two panels are frequently ‘laid up’ between each caul. 1949B. L. Davies Technol. Plastics xiii. 233 The dried, impregnated or coated material is cut to size..and the sheets are laid up, i.e. piled one upon the other to a predetermined number. 1962Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 115/2 Normally not less than three layers of tissue are laid up between the electrodes [of an industrial capacitor] for the lower voltages. 1965Plastics Tooling & Manuf. Handbk. (Amer. Soc. Tool & Manuf. Engineers) vi. 114 Successive plies are laid up until the desired thickness is achieved; then the part is allowed to cure.
IX.
61. Comb.: lay-down a. (a) (also laid-down), applied to a collar which is folded over instead of standing up; also as n., a ‘turn-down’ collar; (b) applied to a hand or contract at cards (esp. Bridge) which is such that success is possible against any defence, so that no harm would be done by exposing the player's cards on the table; also ellipt. as n., such a hand; also fig.; † lay-holding a., that lays hold, tenacious; lay-over a. = lay-down.
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. (1629) 89 Vran..Laid hold on him with most lay-holding grace. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxvii, A black gentleman..with a lay down collar with two tassels. 1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 339 The three Master Baskets in coats and lay-over collars. 1880I. L. Bird Japan I. 47 A laid-down collar. 1889W. S. Gilbert Foggerty's Fairy (1892) 151 Serious collars, substitutes for the unprofessional ‘lay-downs’ I usually wore. 1906Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 16/3 Enormous cards are held and we have a lay-down great or small slam. 1934Amer. Speech IX. 10/2 A cold game is a sure game, and a cold contract is a lay-down. 1955I. Fleming Moonraker vii. 75 It was a laydown Grand Slam for Bond against any defence. 1959Listener 12 Mar. 489/1 Seven Clubs, it will be seen, is a lay-down. 1961Times 6 Dec. 8/3 A lay-down slam in Clubs. 1966‘W. Haggard’ Power House ix. 92 The interview had diverted him. He'd learnt a lot about Harry Fletcher; he'd held a crushing hand and had played it as a laydown. 1974Country Life 17 Oct. 1139/3 The slam is a lay down.
☛ Phrase-key.
To be laid (= to lie down) 8 a; it lays (impers. of wind and weather) 33; lay aback 25 c; l abed 8 c; l aboard 25 d; l about 44; l about one 32 e; l abroad 45; l one's account 38; l along 46; l alongside 25 c; l an ambush 18; l apart 47; l aside 48; l asleep 8 c; l at (= attack) 32 c; l at one's door 27 b; l athwart the hawse 25 d; l a-water 25; l away 49; l the axe (to) 15; l bare 25; l battery 19; l a bed 35 b; l before 17; l a bet 12; l blame (on) 29; l a blockade 19; l one's bones 8 b; l bread, l a buck 35 d; l a burden on 28; l by 50; l by the heels 25 b; l by the lee 25 c; l the case (Printing) 35 f; l claim 26; l close 25 d; l the cloth 35 b; l colours 41 a; l (one's) course 39 b; l down 51; l the dust 3; l a duty (on) 28; l ear to 15; l an egg 9; l emphasis 30; l eyes on 21 b; l fast 25 b; l a finger on 21 e; l a fire 35 e; l for (= lay wait for) 18 b; l for (= plan for) 38 c; l forth 52; l from one 15 c; l a ghost 3 b; l the grain, l a ground 41 b; l a gun 24; l a hand 21 d; l hands on 21 c; l hard(ly to 32 b; l (= wager) one's head 12; l to heart 15; l a hedge 6 b; l hold (of, on) 22; l home to 25 e, 32 b; l a horse 12 c; l a hostage 11 b; l in 53; l in one's dish, neck 27 b; l in mortgage, pawn, † wed 11; l in one, into one 15 f; l in prison 15 d; l in water 25; l in words, writing, etc. 40; l an information 26 b; l into (= belabour) 32 d; l it on 31, 55 e, f; l the land (Naut.) 5; l leaven 35 d; l one's life 12, 13; l load about one 32 e; l load on, see load n.; l one's love upon 16 a; l low 1, 43; l a name on 15 g; l off 54; l on 55; l on (= attack, belabour) 32 a; l on a scent or track 15 h; l (a person) on the face, the lips 34; l open 25; l out 56; l over 57; l (a person) over the head, etc. 34; l pay 10; l a picture 41 a; l the scene 20 b; l the sea 3; l siege 19; l a snare 18; l (= quarter) soldiers upon 28 b; l speech 14; l stress 30; l a table 35 b; l a tax (on) 28; l to 58; l to (= impute or attribute to) 27; l to (= attack) 32 b; l to do (= plan or intend to do) 38 c; l to one's charge, credit 27 b; l to one's door 27 b; l to ground, earth 1 b; l to heart 15; l to jail 15 d; l to pledge (gage, mortgage, pawn, † wed) 11; l to rest, sleep, bed 8 c; l to sight 25; l together 59; l a trail (on) 15 h; l a trap 18; l type (Printing) 35 f; l under contribution, obligation, etc., under water 25; l unto (= attack) 32 b; l up 60; l a wager 12; l wait 18; l waste 25; l watch 18; l a † wed 11; l weight (upon) 30; l the wind 3; l with (= compare with) 15 e; l with (= cover or spread with) 42.
Senses 50–61 in Dict. become 51–62. Add: [VII.] [43.] c. to lay dead U.S. colloq. (esp. in Black English), to be inconspicuous through inactivity; = to lay low, sense 43 a above; also, to do nothing in particular, to loiter, ‘hang about’.
1947Amer. Speech XXII. 122/1 The boys say, ‘Lay dead and you'll get ahead’. 1955Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 55 Now we can cool off and lay dead for a week or two. Ibid. 178 Milwaukee is noted for being the toughest city in the Midwest to..lay dead in. 1967Trans-Action Apr. 6/1 The dudes could be found when they were ‘laying dead’—hanging on the corner, or shooting pool and ‘jiving’ (‘goofing’ or kidding around) in a local community project. 1972T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 165 Nonactivity on the street corner is ‘laying dead’, besides the more conventional ‘hanging’. 1990Los Angeles Times 22 May (Ventura County ed.) b1/3 According to transcripts of the conversation,..he was ‘laying dead for Holmes’ in the Courthouse parking lot, armed with a gun.
[VIII.] 50. lay back. intr. To lean back, recline; freq. fig., to do nothing, relax (in some later quots. prob. a back-formation f. laid-back s.v. laid ppl. a. c). Cf. lie back s.v. lie v.1 20.
1860W. Collins Woman in White I. 67/1 He lay back in the chair, the whole time I was speaking, with his eyes closed. When I had done he opened them indolently. 1884Virginia (Nevada) Chron. 1 Oct. 3/3 Old Bill..just lays back until there is a good jack-pot of trout in hand, and then he makes a bold bluff and walks off with it. 1920E. Pound Let. 11 Sept. (1971) 157 You lay back, you let me have the whole stinking sweat of providing the mechanical means for letting through the new movement... Then you punk out, cursing me for not being in two places at once. 1956M. Dickens Angel in Corner x. 198‘Good girl.’ He lay back on the pillow. ‘That's my girl,’ he murmured. 1977Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 51/3 On her second album, Patti Smith lays back, refusing to assert herself. 1984Sears Catal. 1985 Spring/Summer 276 When it's time to lay back, recline seat and a flip of the handle changes it to a carriage.
[52.] u. To record (esp. popular music). colloq.
1967Melody Maker 14 Jan. 7 They both have tremendous records out..and they are both laying down some great stuff. 1975New Yorker 21 Apr. 34/1 He just spent six weeks in L.A. laying down the tracks for eight new cuts on an as yet untitled album. 1985Internat. Musician June 79/1 In fact, while laying down four bass parts all requiring different tones I kept the bass DI'd and the results were very pleasing. 1986Keyboard Player Apr. 2/2 He..intends to demonstrate multi-track recording techniques by laying down eight different tracks ‘in public’. 1995Mojo Feb. 104/3 They went to it with a collective will and lay down a very energetic, likeable collection of funk tracks.
[54.] o. Basketball. To bounce (the ball) off the backboard into the basket. Cf. *lay-in n.
1976J. Scott Bill Walton iii. 111 Silas grabs the ball and lays it in, making it 4–0 Denver. 1987New Yorker 19 Jan. 28 Twice, she stole the ball beneath her own basket and raced coast-to-coast to lay it in.
[55.] k. Football, Hockey, etc. To pass (the ball) a short distance, esp. into open space for a team-mate to collect.
1965Daily Express 13 Aug. 15/5 Laying off, playing the ball at one of your team-mates—almost bouncing it off him to get the ball back again. 1966J. Greaves Soccer Techniques vi. 46 More and more we find that the ball must be passed straight to the feet of team-mates. Of course, if a man who receives such a pass lays the ball off first-time in an imaginative way it may be that he will be able to play it into an open space and let someone sprint on to it. 1970Observer 19 Apr. 23/2 England were laying it off well but too slowly and the linkmen failed to break through often enough. 1976Northumberland Gaz. 26 Nov. 19/4 Ross Mathie..rounded the 'keeper and laid the ball off for the waiting Laing. 1986Open Rugby Sept. 16/3 Both are deceptively fast, difficult to tackle and lay the ball off well.
[56.] m. Angling. To lower (a weight or shot) into the water until it rests on the bottom with the hook and bait. Freq. absol.
1934E. Marshall-Hardy Angling Ways xiv. 105 The illustration shows two methods of adjusting the tackle for stret-pegging or laying-on. 1959Times 7 Feb. 9/3, I do not suggest that coarse fishermen should ‘lay on’ with small roach to catch bigger ones. 1975Coarse Fishing (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) 29/1 If they [sc. the fish] are feeding confidently,..the shot can be laid on. 1991Coarse Fishing Feb. 10/3 My set up was a bristle pole float, overshotted, so I could lay on and hold it perfectly still.
[58.] d. intr. = lie over s.v. lie v.1 28 d. U.S. colloq.
1817Indiana Hist. Soc. Publ. (1918) VI. 296 We concluded to put up for the night and to lay over the Sabbath. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It ii. 28 You git out at Cottonwood..and lay over a couple o' days. 1922R. Lardner in Cosmopolitan July 59/2 Our train laid over in Washington two hours till another train come along to pick us up and I got out and strolled up the platform and into the Union Station. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xvii. 140 The Treasury agent fixed it so I'd arrive at the Philly jail on Friday night and have to lay over in that hellhole until Monday. 1986New Yorker 26 May 62/3 One pilot..clipped part of a wingtip, and had to lay over while it was fixed.
[IX.] [62.] lay-down, (c) (as n.) an act of lying down, a rest; = lie-down s.v. lie n.2 6; also iron., a short stay in custody.
1897National Police Gaz. (U.S.) 26 May 6/3 Nothing but ‘dub’ fights by novices, with now and then a deliberate ‘lay down’. 1909E. Wyrall Spike vi. 44 In tramp language, it was at least a decent ‘lay down’—i.e., bed. 1937D. L. Sayers Busman's Honeymoon vi. 137 What you want is a nice lay-down and a cupper tea. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad 331 A lay down, a remand in custody. 1941V. Davis Phenomena in Crime xix. 249 Joe..is remanded in Brixton Prison. A remand is called the ‘lay-down’. 1984Police Rev. 23 Mar. 584/1 Time spent in prison often begins with a ‘laydown’, a short spell on remand.
▪ XI. lay, v.2 Obs.
[Aphetic f. allay v.2, to mix.]
trans. To mix or alloy (metals).
1489Sc. Acts Jas. IV (1814) II. 221/1 Tuiching the article of goldsmythis, quilkis Layis and makkis falss mixtouris of ewill metale. 1554Ld. Treas. Acc. Scot. Sept., Aucht unce of siluer, to mak ane assay of siluer and layit mony. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 403 Sche dois sua corrupt the layit money, and hes brocht it in sick basenes, and sic quantatie of scruiff, that [etc.].
▪ XII. † lay, int. Obs.
An exclamatory substitute for Lord!
1700W. King Transactioneer 33 Gent. Pray what's that? Transact. Oh lay! Why don't you know?
▪ XIII. lay
see lea, lee, ley.
▪ XIV. lay
pa. tense of lie v.1 |