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Definitions

lay

[ley] / leɪ /
ADJECTIVE
amateur, not trained in a religious or other profession
Synonyms
Antonyms






VERB
design, plan
Synonyms


VERB
bet, wager
Synonyms
NOUN
a song or poem
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"The queen is the only member of the hive who can lay eggs that become the next generation of workers," Nicklisch said.

From Science Daily Aug. 22, 2026

It described the process of breeding king penguins as "notoriously difficult," as the birds only lay a single egg at a time and breeding cycles can be years apart.

From BBC Aug. 21, 2026

Plainclothes officers cordoned off Zhu’s ancestral home in the landlocked Hunan province and turned away visitors who came to lay flowers.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 18, 2026

A series of powerful hurricane-driven swells have surfaced forgotten remnants of Newport Beach’s infrastructure that lay buried beneath sand and water for many decades.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 18, 2026

But I take it out now; I lay it on Theo’s desk.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

A 2021 law allows people to sue for damages when private detention center operators fail to follow the care standards laid out in their contracts.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 22, 2026

Instead, “American Doctor” focuses on the micro, giving voice to the doctors and caregivers who traditionally have been spared during armed conflicts, as laid out by the Geneva Conventions.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 21, 2026

The market pays close attention to the Fed chief’s remarks at this event, which comes at the end of the summer lull and where shifts in Fed thinking are often laid out.

From MarketWatch Aug. 21, 2026

It may have been a “geological fluke,” yet “without the pattern laid down by these waters, Europe would simply not exist in the form we know it.”

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 21, 2026

I bristled as she pulled my braid around and laid it on my chest.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

The workers discovered the gold when they were in the process of laying sewage pipes for the new shelter homes set to be built there.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2026

Zabihullah Mujahid, the government's chief spokesman, said this month that the authorities were laying the "foundations of the economy" and that patience was needed.

From Barron's Aug. 14, 2026

Last June, FedEx closed facilities in Emeryville and Oakland, laying off 174 employees.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 13, 2026

In February this year, the Washington Post announced it would be laying off one-third of its work force, sharply scaling back the paper's coverage of sports and foreign news.

From BBC Aug. 11, 2026

They carried off young Colin and his mum and dad, but try as they would there was no laying claws on Ambrose Spike, no sir.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques




Vocabulary lists containing lay


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