lay

I verb

1)

Curtis laid the newspaper on the table

Syn:

put, place, set, put down, set down, deposit, rest, situate, locate, position; informal stick, dump, park, plunk

2)

the act laid the foundation for the new system

Syn:

set in place, put in place, set out; set up, establish

3)

I'll lay money that Michelle will be there

Syn:

bet, wager, gamble, stake, risk, hazard, venture; (lay money) give odds, speculate

4)

they are going to lay charges

Syn:

bring, press, bring forward, lodge, register, place, file

5)

she laid the blame on Maxwell

Syn:

assign to, attribute to, ascribe to, allot to, attach to; (lay the blame on) hold someone accountable, hold someone responsible, find guilty

6)

we laid out plans for the next voyage

Syn:

devise, arrange, make, make ready, prepare, work out, hatch, design, plan, scheme, plot, conceive, put together, draw up, produce, develop, concoct, formulate, cook up

7)

this will lay responsibility on the court

Syn:

impose, apply, entrust, vest, place, put; inflict, encumber, saddle, charge, burden

8)

we laid the trap and waited

Syn:

set, prepare, devise, bait

See note at lie II 2.

•

- lay something aside

- lay something bare

- lay something down

- lay down the law

- lay eyes on

- lay hands on

- lay into

- lay it on thick

- lay off

- lay out

- lay waste to

II adjective

1)

a lay preacher

Syn:

nonclerical, nonordained, secular, temporal

2)

a lay audience

Syn:

nonprofessional, amateur, nonspecialist, nontechnical, untrained, unqualified