lay

CEFRB1

/leɪ/

verb · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To put something down carefully in a flat position.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Not trained or working professionally in a particular subject.

Examples

  • Fan letters lay in a heap on the desk.

  • I lay in my cabin feeling miserably seasick.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To cause to subside or abate.

  2. To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

  3. To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

More examples

In context

  • The hill lay covered with snow.

  • A shower of rain lays the dust.

  • to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The workers will blank the bricks carefully on the new garden wall.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Inherited from Middle English leyen, leggen, from Old English leċġan (“to lay”), from Proto-West Germanic *laggjan, from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *ligjaną (“to lie, recline”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie, recline”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian lääse (“to lay; to lie”), West Frisian lizze (“to lay, to lie”), Cimbrian leng (“to lay”), Dutch leggen (“to lay”), German legen (“to lay”), Limburgish lègke (“to lay”), Luxembourgish leeën (“to lay”), Yiddish לייגן (leygn, “to lay”), Danish lægge (“to lay”), Faroese, Icelandic leggja (“to lay”), Norwegian Bokmål legge (“to lay”), Norwegian Nynorsk legga, legge, leggja, leggje (“to lay”), Swe...