lay (1) — OAT

lay1

verb

1 Curtis laid the empty can on the passenger seat:

put, place, set, put down, set down, deposit, rest, situate, sit, settle, stow, balance, station, drop, leave, let fall, throw down, fling down, deploy, locate, position;

informal plant, stick, dump, bung, park, plonk, pop, shove.

▷antonyms pick up.

2 the Act which laid the foundation for the modern education system:

set in place/position, put in place/position, set out, position;

establish, set up.

3 I'll lay money that Michelle will be there:

bet, wager, gamble, stake, hazard, risk, chance, venture;

give odds, speculate, game;

British, informal punt, have a flutter.

4 he had been the first to lay formal charges:

bring, bring forward, put forward, submit, advance, present, press, prefer, offer, lodge, register, place, file, table;

accuse, charge, indict;

British table;

North American impeach.

5 he lays the blame on the boy's neglectful parents:

assign, attribute, ascribe, allocate, allot, impute, attach, impose, fix;

hold someone responsible, hold someone accountable, hold someone answerable, condemn, find guilty of, pin the blame on.

▷antonyms exonerate, hold blameless.

6 we laid plans for the next voyage:

devise, arrange, contrive, make, prepare, work out, hatch, concoct, design, plan, scheme, plot, organize, frame, think up, dream up, cook up, brew, conceive, make ready, get ready, put together, draw up, produce, develop, compose, formulate.

7 the new section laid a responsibility on the court to consider whether financial obligations should be terminated:

impose, apply, entrust, vest, place, put;

inflict, encumber, saddle, tax, charge, burden.

▷antonyms excuse.

8 the eagles laid two eggs:

produce;

technical oviposit.

□ lay something aside

1 payments for farmers who lay aside areas for conservation:

put aside, put to one side, keep, save, store, hold in abeyance.

2 they must lay aside their differences and work together:

abandon, cast aside, reject, renounce, repudiate, dismiss, disregard, ignore, forget, discard;

archaic forsake.

▷antonyms take up.

3 Protestants opposed it strongly enough to lead the government to lay the idea aside:

defer, shelve, hold over, suspend, put on ice, mothball, set aside, put off, put aside, put out of one's mind, wave aside, put back, adjourn;

informal put on the back burner, put in cold storage;

rare remit.

▷antonyms pursue; promote; progress.

□ lay something bare

the secrets of his heart will be laid bare:

reveal, disclose, divulge, show, expose, exhibit, bring to light, uncover, unveil, unmask, manifest, express, highlight, pinpoint, put the spotlight on, betray, give away, smoke out, let slip, blurt out, publish, acknowledge, make a clean breast of, make known, make public.

▷antonyms conceal.

□ lay something down

1 he laid down his glass:

put down, set down, place down, deposit, drop, station, leave, rest;

informal dump, bung down, plonk down.

2 they were forced to lay down their weapons:

relinquish, surrender, give up, yield, cede, turn over;

disarm, give in, submit, capitulate, raise/show the white flag, throw in the towel/sponge, demilitarize.

3 the ground rules laid down by the Civil Aviation Authority:

formulate, stipulate, set down, draw up, frame;

prescribe, order, command, ordain, dictate, decree, enjoin, assert;

pronounce, announce, proclaim, promulgate;

enact, pass, direct, decide, determine, impose, establish, institute, specify, fix, codify.

4 I like to buy young wines and lay them down for a few years:

store, put into store, keep for future use, keep, save.

□ lay down the law

when his father tried to lay down the law, he rebelled:

order someone around, tell someone what to do, boss someone around, ride roughshod over someone, be dogmatic, be domineering;

call the shots, call the tune;

informal throw one's weight around, push someone around.

□ lay eyes on

informal

I've never laid eyes on him before!:

see, spot, observe, regard, notice, catch sight of, view, perceive, discern, spy;

informal clap/set eyes on, clock;

literary behold, espy, descry.

□ lay hands on

1 wait till I lay my hands on you!:

catch, lay hold of, get one's hands on, get hold of, seize, grab, snatch, clutch, grip, grasp, capture.

▷antonyms let go; leave alone.

2 it's not easy to lay your hands on decent champagne around here:

obtain, acquire, get, come by, find, locate, discover, unearth, uncover, bring to light, run to earth, turn up, pick up, come up with, secure, procure, hit on, ferret out, get one's hands on, encounter, get possession of, buy, purchase;

informal get one's mitts on.

3 the pastor will lay hands on those who come before him:

bless, consecrate;

confirm;

ordain.

□ lay something in

Bill proposed that we should lay in a lot of good meat, and keep it for the winter:

stock up with/on, stockpile, store (up), amass, heap up, hoard, save, stow, put aside, garner, accumulate, pile up, mass, assemble, stack up, put away, stow away, husband, reserve, preserve, conserve, collect, muster, put by, put by for a rainy day, squirrel away;

informal salt away, stash (away).

□ lay intoinformal

1 three youths laid into him:

attack, assail, hit, strike, let fly at, tear into, lash out at, set upon, fall on, turn on, assault, beat, thrash, pound, pummel, wallop, hammer, pounce on, round on, pelt, drub;

informal lace into, sail into, pitch into, let someone have it, get stuck into, paste, do over, knock around, rough up;

British, informal set about, have a go at.

▷antonyms leave in peace.

2 there was no reason for him to lay into her with a string of insults:

criticize harshly, castigate, censure, lambaste, harangue, condemn, pillory, rant at, rave at;

berate, upbraid, rebuke, chide, reproach, reprove, scold;

informal pitch into, crucify, slag off;

British, informal have a go at, rubbish;

North American, informal light into, bad-mouth, bawl out;

rare objurgate.

▷antonyms praise, extol.

□ lay it on

informal

lay it on thick about what you'll do for them:

exaggerate, stretch the truth, overdo it, overstate one's case, embellish the truth;

flatter, pay extravagant compliments, give fulsome praise, over-praise, soft-soap;

informal pile it on, lay it on with a trowel/shovel, ham it up, sweet-talk.

▷antonyms understate.

□ lay off

informal

you should lay off smoking:

give up, stop, refrain from, abstain from, not continue, desist from, leave alone, cut out;

North American quit;

informal pack in, leave off, kick, give over, knock off.

▷antonyms start, take up.

□ lay someone off

cutbacks forced the museum to lay off 244 employees:

dismiss, let go, discharge, give notice to, pay off, release;

British make redundant;

informal sack, give someone the sack, fire, give someone their marching orders, send packing, give someone the boot, give someone the bullet, give someone the push, give someone the (old) heave-ho, boot out;

British, informal give someone their cards.

▷antonyms take on, hire.

□ lay something on

they arrived at the club to find no refreshments laid on:

provide, supply, furnish, give, fix up, line up, organize, prepare, produce, come up with, dispense, purvey, bestow, impart, make available;

cater.

□ lay someone out

informal

he belted him, laid him out flat:

knock out, knock unconscious, knock down, fell, floor, flatten, prostrate;

informal KO, kayo, knock for six.

□ lay something out

1 Robyn laid the plans out on the desk:

spread out, set out, arrange, display, exhibit, distribute, line up, order.

▷antonyms fold up, put away.

2 a pamphlet which tells you how to lay out election leaflets:

design, plan, set out, arrange;

map out, outline, sketch out, rough out, block out, detail, draw up, formulate, work out, frame, draft, plot out, trace out.

3 informal he had to lay out $70 on antibiotics:

spend, expend, pay, disburse, contribute, part with, invest, put in, devote, use up, donate, give;

lavish, squander, waste, dissipate;

informal shell out, fork out, dish out, splurge;

British, informal stump up;

North American, informal ante up, pony up.