The learned have no more privilege than the lay. --B.
Jonson.
Of the sect to which that he was born He kept his
lay, to which that he was sworn. --Chaucer.
2. A law. [Obs.] ``Many goodly lays.'' --Spenser.
3. An obligation; a vow. [Obs.]
They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath. --
Holland.
2. A melody; any musical utterance.
The throstle cock made eke his lay. --Chaucer.
2. Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.[Obs.]
3. Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular
profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding
the nature of a disease.
{Lay baptism} (Eccl.), baptism administered by a lay person.
--F. G. Lee.
{Lay brother} (R. C. Ch.), one received into a convent of
monks under the three vows, but not in holy orders.
{Lay clerk} (Eccl.), a layman who leads the responses of the
congregation, etc., in the church service. --Hook.
{Lay days} (Com.), time allowed in a charter party for taking
in and discharging cargo. --McElrath.
{Lay elder}. See 2d {Elder}, 3, note.
A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the
den. --Dan. vi. 17.
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid. --Milton.
2. To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with
regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a
corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers
on a table.
3. To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to
lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.
4. To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.
5. To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to
exorcise, as an evil spirit.
After a tempest when the winds are laid. --Waller.
6. To cause to lie dead or dying.
Brave C[ae]neus laid Ortygius on the plain, The
victor C[ae]neus was by Turnus slain. --Dryden.
7. To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.
I dare lay mine honor He will remain so. --Shak.
8. To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.
She layeth her hands to the spindle. --Prov. xxxi.
19.
10. To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to
assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
--Is. Iiii. 6.
11. To impute; to charge; to allege.
God layeth not folly to them. --Job xxiv.
12.
12. To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on
one.
13. To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a
particular county; to lay a scheme before one.
14. (Law) To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.
--Bouvier.
15. (Mil.) To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.
16. (Rope Making) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable,
etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as,
to lay a cable or rope.
17. (Print.)
(a) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the
imposing stone.
(b) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
{To lay asleep}, to put sleep; to make unobservant or
careless. --Bacon.
{To lay bare}, to make bare; to strip.
And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain.
--Byron.
{To lay before}, to present to; to submit for consideration;
as, the papers are laid before Congress.
{To lay by}.
(a) To save.
(b) To discard.
Let brave spirits . . . not be laid by.
--Bacon.
{To lay by the heels}, to put in the stocks. --Shak.
{To lay down}.
(a) To stake as a wager.
(b) To yield; to relinquish; to surrender; as, to lay
down one's life; to lay down one's arms.
(c) To assert or advance, as a proposition or principle.
{To lay forth}.
(a) To extend at length; (reflexively) to exert one's
self; to expatiate. [Obs.]
(b) To lay out (as a corpse). [Obs.] --Shak.
{To lay hands on one's self}, or {To lay violent hands on
one's self}, to injure one's self; specif., to commit
suicide.
{To lay heads together}, to consult.
{To lay hold of}, or {To lay hold on}, to seize; to catch.
{To lay in}, to store; to provide.
{To lay it on}, to apply without stint. --Shak.
2. (Naut.) To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay
forward; to lay aloft.
{To lay about}, or {To lay about one}, to strike vigorously
in all directions. --J. H. Newman.
{To lay at}, to strike or strike at. --Spenser.
{To lay for}, to prepare to capture or assault; to lay wait
for. [Colloq.] --Bp Hall.
{To lay in for}, to make overtures for; to engage or secure
the possession of. [Obs.] ``I have laid in for these.''
--Dryden.
{To lay on}, to strike; to beat; to attack. --Shak.
{To lay out}, to purpose; to plan; as, he lays out to make a
journey.
A viol should have a lay of wire strings below.
--Bacon.
Note: The lay of a rope is right-handed or left-handed
according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See
{Lay}, v. t., 16. The lay of land is its topographical
situation, esp. its slope and its surface features.
2. A wager. ``My fortunes against any lay worth naming.''
3.
(a) A job, price, or profit. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
(b) A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise;
as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees
for a certain lay. [U. S.]
4. (Textile Manuf.)
(a) A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st {Lea}
(a) .
(b) The lathe of a loom. See {Lathe}, 3.
5. A plan; a scheme. [Slang] --Dickens.
{Lay figure}.
(a) A jointed model of the human body that may be put in
any attitude; -- used for showing the disposition of
drapery, etc.
(b) A mere puppet; one who serves the will of others
without independent volition.
{Lay race}, that part of a lay on which the shuttle travels
in weaving; -- called also {shuttle race}.
3. The movable swing frame of a loom, carrying the reed for
separating the warp threads and beating up the weft; --
called also {lay} and {batten}.
{Blanchard lathe}, a lathe for turning irregular forms after
a given pattern, as lasts, gunstocks, and the like.
{Drill lathe}, or {Speed lathe}, a small lathe which, from
its high speed, is adapted for drilling; a hand lathe.
{Engine lathe}, a turning lathe in which the cutting tool has
an automatic feed; -- used chiefly for turning and boring
metals, cutting screws, etc.
{Foot lathe}, a lathe which is driven by a treadle worked by
the foot.
{Geometric lathe}. See under {Geometric}
{Hand lathe}, a lathe operated by hand; a power turning lathe
without an automatic feed for the tool.
{Slide lathe}, an engine lathe.
{Throw lathe}, a small lathe worked by one hand, while the
cutting tool is held in the other.
The watchful traveler . . . Lay down again, and
closed his weary eyes. --Dryden.
2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland
lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the
ship lay in port.
3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in
a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie
fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie
under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves;
the paper does not lie smooth on the wall.
4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding
place; to consist; -- with in.
Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though
unequal in circumstances. --Collier.
He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard
labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of
huntsmen. --Locke.
Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . .
. where I lay one night only. --Evelyn.
Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. --Dickens.
6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
The wind is loud and will not lie. --Shak.
7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being
maintained. ``An appeal lies in this case.'' --Parsons.
Note: Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers
often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay
and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its
preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I
laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its
preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay
down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the
preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid
down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid
at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was
laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to
remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit
of lay, and not of lie.
{To lie along the shore} (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in
sight.
{To lie at the door of}, to be imputable to; as, the sin,
blame, etc., lies at your door.
{To lie at the heart}, to be an object of affection, desire,
or anxiety. --Sir W. Temple.
{To lie at the mercy of}, to be in the power of.
{To lie by}.
(a) To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the
manuscript lying by him.
(b) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the
heat of the day.
{To lie hard} or {heavy}, to press or weigh; to bear hard.
{To lie in}, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
{To lie in one}, to be in the power of; to belong to. ``As
much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.''
--Rom. xii. 18.
{To lie in the way}, to be an obstacle or impediment.
{To lie in wait}, to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush.
{To lie on} or {upon}.
(a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the result.
(b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on.
{To lie low}, to remain in concealment or inactive. [Slang]
{To lie on one's hands}, to remain unsold or unused; as, the
goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much
time lying on their hands.
{To lie on the head of}, to be imputed to.
What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it
lie on my head. --Shak.
{To lie over}.
(a) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due,
as a note in bank.
(b) To be deferred to some future occasion, as a
resolution in a public deliberative body.
{To lie to} (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as
near the wind as possible as being the position of
greatest safety in a gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. {To
bring to}, under {Bring}.
{To lie under}, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed
by.
{To lie with}.
(a) To lodge or sleep with.
(b) To have sexual intercourse with.
(c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.