waylayern.
/ˌweɪˈleɪə/, U.S. /ˈweɪˌleɪər/ A person who waylays or accosts someone; esp. an ambusher, a highwayman.
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the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > [noun] > hostile lying in wait > one who
awaiterc1374
waiterc1430
waylayer1565
lier1583
wait-layer1600
ambusher1606
ambuscader1677
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Insidiator viæ,..a way layer: a theefe.
1602 N. Breton Mothers Blessing sig. D4 Allow..No lyar, swearer, brabbler, nor way layer.
1694 P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 5th Bk. Wks. xxvi. 125 As we went back to our Ships, we saw three Way-Layers [Fr. trois guetteurs de chemins], who having been taken in Ambuscado, were going to be broken on the Wheel.
1756 W. Guthrie tr. Quintilian Inst. Eloquence I. v. xiv. 396 We have not yet proved, that Clodius was the Way-layer.
1828 G. Smeeton Doings in London 222 That fellow..is one of the way-layers, a contemptible class of thieves, who attend the waggon and coach-yards, pretending to be porters; they watch the country people, and offer their services to carry their parcels.
1855 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Fraser's Mag. Nov. 563/2 Wherever there are rich wayfarers there also are sly and alert waylayers.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. III 501 Without a will for aught, did Bodli stand, Nor once cast eyes on the waylayer's band.
1922 S. J. Weyman Ovington's Bank v. 55 One of Ovington's waylayers wished to know if the limit..was likely to be reached.
2001 R. L. Byers Shattered Mask ix. 121 The other innocent folk..scurried to get out of the waylayers' path.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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