Lay \Lay\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Laid; p. pr. & vb. n.
Laying.]
[OE. leggen, AS. lecgan, causative, fr. licgan to
lie; akin to D. leggen, G. legen, Icel. leggja, Goth. lagjan.
See Lie to be prostrate.]
1. To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against
something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a
book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower
lays the dust.
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.
9. To apply; to put.
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.
1. To impute; to charge; to allege.
God layeth not folly to them. --Job xxiv.
12.
Lay the fault on us. --Shak.
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, to seize.
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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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