lay
put into a certain place or abstract location
How often you will meet it
Rank 306 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 67,908 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.032% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- put into a certain place or abstract location also: put, set, place, pose, position Put your things hereSet the tray down
- put in a horizontal position also: put down, repose lay the books on the tablelay the patient carefully onto the bed
- prepare or position for action or operation lay a firelay the foundation for a new health care plan
- lay eggs This hen doesn't lay
- impose as a duty, burden, or punishment lay a responsibility on someone
adjective
- characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy also: laic, secular set his collar in laic rather than clerical positionthe lay ministry
- not of or from a profession a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease
noun
- a narrative song with a recurrent refrain also: ballad
lay in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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And so there they lay, all three.
Famous Stories Every Child Should Know · Hamilton Wright [Editor] Mabie · Chapter 1
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Gervaise, who had cried himself to sleep, lay on a couch beside her.
A Knight of the White Cross · G. A. (George Alfred) Henty · Chapter 1
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Her traveling dress lay on the bed--a plain dark silk--her only silk gown except the marriage one.
Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1
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This boy went into his tiny bedroom and threw himself down with his face in his pillow and lay still.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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At once the boy went to work on his neglected corn-bread and fish, but the girl left hers untouched where they lay.
The Heart of the Hills · John, Jr. Fox · Chapter 1