/weɪˈleɪd/, U.S. /ˈweɪˌleɪd/;waylayv.
/ˌweɪˈleɪ/, U.S. /ˈweɪˌleɪ//weɪˈleɪd/, U.S. /ˈweɪˌleɪd/; 1.
a. transitive. To lie in wait for (a person or thing) in order to surprise and attack; to ambush.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > lie in wait for
keepc1000
waitc1200
aspya1250
awaita1250
wait onc1390
to wait on ——1390
forestall1413
belay1470
to lay fora1513
waylay1513
forelay1548
ambush1555
counterwait1562
to lie for1611
set1670
1513 in G. P. Scrope Hist. Castle Combe (1852) 292 The saynd [sic] Robert Bruer, Richard Pollen, John Lewis cam and wayelaynd [sic] my kepers man, and so hert hyem.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. ii. 161 [They] shal rob those men that we haue already way-laid . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 158 I will way-lay thee going home, where if it be thy chance to kill me [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 ccii. 51 Now on their coasts our conquering Navy rides, Way-lays their Merchants, and their Land besets.
1671 J. Milton Paradise Regain'd ii. 185 How thou lurk'st..In Valley or Green Meadow to way-lay Some beauty rare. View more context for this quotation
1707 Boston News-let. 11 Aug. 2/2 On Lords-Day..some Persons living at Cape Nidduck, in their return home-ward, after the Evening Service, were way-laid by a party of Indians.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 8 Sept. 281 The Rich are now neither waylaid by robbers, nor watched by informers.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby iii. 119 Thou art a wanderer, it is said, For Mortham's death thy steps waylaid.
1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Dec. 578 A screw-steamer of war..waylaid the English Royal West India Mail steamer in the Bahama Channel..and brought her to by firing a round shot across her bows.
1883 Manch. Guardian 18 Oct. 4/7 A ruffian..waylaid her in the street and assaulted her in the most brutal manner.
1913 M. H. Fitch Universal Evol. x. 265 He would have waylaid the Spanish vessels carrying the treasure.
1961 Time 14 Apr. 59/2 When Katharine Hepburn passed through town recently, the paparazzi mounted Vespa scooters..to waylay her at Fiumicino Airport.
1992 D. Parry & P. Withrow Jacamar Nest ii. 15 A group of young Israeli soldiers had waylaid him and beaten him up.
2012 K. Ball Horn Creek Trag. vii. 53 Her second thought was that bandits had waylaid him and left him lying dead or dying in the road.
b. transitive. figurative. To overwhelm or confound as if in an ambush; also (in weakened sense): to divert or distract (a person) from his or her purpose.
ΚΠ
1612 T. Dekker Troia-Noua Triumphans sig. Cv For Each Eye will looke through thee, and Each Eare Way-lay thy Words and Workes.
1635 F. Quarles Emblemes iii. Epigr. 159 Thy soule's way-laid by sea; by Hell; by earth.
1680 C. Ness Compl. Church-hist. 495 That Word of God There must be ten horns way-lays them.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. vi. 19 The accidents which unavoidably way-lay them [sc. children]..after they are got forth into the world.
1863 J. Savage Let. 15 Mar. in D. P. Conyngham Irish Brigade & Its Campaigns (1866) xvii. 191 At a time of great civil war, when the best government devised by man was waylaid by the most stupendous treason.
1877 R. L. Stevenson in Cornhill Mag. Feb. 215 There are many matters in which you may waylay Destiny, and bid him stand and deliver.
1922 P. M. Raskin When Soul Sings 16 I was waylaid by beauty My heart standing still, Enraptured with wonder and glee.
a1946 C. Carswell Lying Awake (1950) i. 14 At every point I am waylaid, bewildered, arrested or diverted by the mysteries of textures.
1958 M. Spark Robinson 88 I went to his desk in the first place to borrow the pencil-sharpener, and was waylaid by curiosity.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Apr. c15/1 Sometimes, sheer forces of nature waylay the best-laid plans.
2. transitive. To intercept and seize (a thing in transit). Also figurative: to seize (an opportunity).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > seize [verb (transitive)] > in transit
intercept1548
to make stay of1572
surcept1579
waylay1600
stop1604
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor Dram. Pers. sig. Aiv Shift... He way-layes the reports of seruices, and cons them without booke. View more context for this quotation
1639 J. Mayne Citye Match ii. iii Use stratagems To get her silver whistle, and way-lay Her pewter knots or bodkin.
1672 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 37 I..resolve to waylay all opportunityes for ye future.
1781 J. Thacher May in Mil. Jrnl. (1823) 316 He waylaid the mail for some days in the Jerseys.
1851 A. Helps Compan. Solitude iv. 48 The fond wife used to waylay and open large packets.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. vii. 84 Hans has not returned. I give him two days more before I fall in with the opinion..that Godfrey has waylaid or seized upon his sledge.
1917 M. Sinclair Tree of Heaven xvii. 238 He merely tried..to waylay the passing moment while he waited.
1982 G. Tippette Hard Luck Money viii. 154 Instead of waiting to waylay the money I was riding right along with it. Or at least I hoped I was.
1992 Public Wks. Jan. 12/1 Old newspapers pile up in a waterfront warehouse, waylaid by brokers who don't want to sell them at a loss to recyclers.
3. transitive. To blockade or set an ambush around (a place, esp. a route) with an armed force, etc., in order to intercept an adversary.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > attack > attack [verb (transitive)] > waylay (a road or position)
belay1603
waylay1609
1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man 292 The Pope caused them to bee staied from that meeting, way-laying the Coastes of Verona and Millan.
1618 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgrimage F 1 b Then all the valley on each side being way-laid with a hundred couple of strong Irish Grey-hounds, they are let loose as occasion serues vpon the heard of Deere.
1716 Boston News-let. 29 Oct. 2/2 The Enemy Indians..way laid Savano Path and kill'd King Sampson.
1784 J. Belknap Jrnl. 29 July in Tour to White Mts. (1876) 19 The next morning they waylaid the road and killed these men.
1828 W. Irving Life C. Columbus II. viii. iii. 237 He spread his army through the adjacent forests; and waylaid every pass.
a1850 T. Ford Hist. Illinois (1854) iv. 129 The Indians..occupied every grove, waylaid every road, hung around every settlement.
1928 E. M. Coulter College Life in Old South iv. 98 Armed with a club and a pistol he next waylaid the road traveled by the Hillyers.
2002 D. Feintuch King xxv. 286 Hriskil made but a languid siege at Groenfil... Almost with indifference, he waylaid the castle environs.
4. transitive. To wait for and accost (a person); to stop or detain (a person) in order to converse. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > expectation, waiting > wait for, await [verb (transitive)] > and accost
waylay1623
1623 Bp. J. Hall Contempl. VII. O.T. xix. 256 The Prophet..way-layes the King of Israel, and sadly complaines of himselfe in a reall parable.
a1625 J. Fletcher Chances iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Bbb4/1 Our loves shall now way-lay ye; welcome Gentlemen.
1728 in Hist. MSS Comm.: Rep. MSS Earl of Eglinton et al. (1885) 241 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4575) XLIV. 1 Our scheme about the Duke of Riperda must be alter'd unlesse you can way-lay this Evening or tomorrow morning, & prevail wth him to alter his course.
1787 T. Holcroft Seduction i. xiv. 11 She seemed to way-lay me, and, with moving look, and melting eye, intreat compassion.
1807 W. Wordsworth Poems I. 14 A dancing Shape, an Image gay, To haunt, to startle, and way-lay.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. xlviii. 65 Being directed to the chapel [he] betook himself there, in order to waylay her, at the conclusion of the service.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. ii. 60 I have held it a first principle of manners not to waylay people.
1910 Independent (N.Y.) 18 Aug. 362/1 He is waylaid for a time by a duchess, whom the..author describes as ‘beautiful and unscrupulous’.
1914 Blackwood's Mag. Nov. 577 The canal lock-keepers waylay me for the latest information.
1965 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 10 Apr. 21/3 The Sphinx who waylaid Oedipus with its grimly silly question.
2009 M. Sawyer Death's Door 233 ‘I was waylaid by the Holbrooks,’ she told him. ‘I had lunch with them.’
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > hinder completely or prevent [verb (transitive)]
forbidc1000
forrunc1275
forbar1303
before-comec1384
withstanda1400
withholdc1400
prevenec1485
supprime1490
interrupt1497
resist?a1513
prevent1522
discourage1528
prohibit1531
stop1534
forleta1555
bar1559
to bar by and main1567
disbar1567
to cut off1576
embar1577
forestall1579
obvent1588
cancel1594
waylay1625
suppress1651
antevene1655
arceate1657
exarceate1657
interpel1722
stump1858
estop1876
plug1887
pre-empt1957
deter1961
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 241 For the Employment of Money, is chiefly, either Merchandizing, or Purchasing; And Vsury Way-layes both.
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης viii. 68 Using a strange iniquity to require justice upon him whom he then waylayd and debarr'd from his appearance.
1660 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania iv. 256 By this means we endeavour to way-lay an inconvenience which others accelerate by Excesse in meats and drinks.
a1688 J. Bunyan Jerusalem-sinner Saved (1689) 155 Art thou crossed, disappointed and waylaid, and overthrown in all thy foolish ways and doings?
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 69. ⁋3 All the other Miseries, which way-lay our Passage through the World, Wisdom may escape, and Fortitude may conquer.
1772 R. Warner tr. Plautus Cheat iv. iv, in tr. Plautus Comedies III. 374 A plague upon your questions, you waylay me, When we should gain a march upon the enemy.
Derivatives
ˌwayˈlaid adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > seizing > [adjective] > seized in transit
intercepted1623
waylaid1667
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 xxv. 7 Like hunted Castors, conscious of their Store, Their waylaid wealth to Norway's coasts they bring.
1836 T. Chalmers Wks. V. 390 He might pass the waylaid and wounded traveller.
2011 J. Ehrmann et al. InSideOut Coaching i. 12 I was one of those waylaid kids, and my recovery was a long, hard road.
ˌwayˈlayment n. now rare. the act or process of waylaying.
ΚΠ
1857 Brit. Controversialist New Ser. 3 52 Constantine..eluded the snares which the Emperor had set for his waylayment.
1863 A. D. T. Whitney Faith Gartney's Girlhood xiv. 122 Dr. Wasgatt had..half-a-dozen more [patients]..to whom he was summoned by waylayment.
2011 Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times 31 Mar. A 66-year-old ‘waylayment’ of a mailing is noteworthy news to stamp collectors in the U.S.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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