lay

I

v

1. put, place, set, rest, Inf. stick, leave, park, plant; set down, seat, settle; incline, lean.

2. drop, floor, lay low, prostrate; fell, knock or cut or strike down, sink.

3. lodge, submit, present, prefer, bring forward.

4. repose, impute, lay to; attribute, assign, ascribe, designate, insinuate.

5. bet, wager, give odds, gamble; chance, hazard, risk; plunge, play; deposit, put down, stake.

6. impose, apply, inflict; enjoin, prescribe; demand, exact, order.

7. posit, station, locate, site, situate; pitch, camp; establish, set up.

8. cover, spread, overspread, overlay; finish, veneer, varnish.

9. devise, arrange, plan, contrive, make; prepare, work up, plot, schematize. 10 level, flatten, smooth, even, plane.

11. allay, relieve, assuage, ease; alleviate, mitigate, palliate, soften, soothe, salve; calm, still, quiet.

12. aim, direct, train, point, sight, angle.

13.Slang. copulate, couple, mate, have sex, have sexual relations, have intercourse; sleep with, lie with, go to bed with, Sl. get in the hay with, Sl. shack up with, Euph. go all the way with.

14. lay about onea. lay into, Sl. light into, strike out, flail, Inf. slug, sock, Sl. give the one-two, Sl. windmill; take the offensive, attack, assault, assail; attack tooth and nail, harry, harass; set upon, beset, beleaguer, besiege, storm.b. proceed, set out, Inf. get a move on, stir, scramble, bestir oneself; move, Inf. mogate, start, push on or ahead; go at it, plug away, carry on, keep the ball rolling, keep going, keep busy, fall to with a will.

15. lay aside

a. abandon, reject, Inf. leave out in the cold, discard, wash one's hands of; disregard, repudiate, renounce, drop, drop the subject; brush off, shrug off.b. put aside, push aside, cast aside, shunt, dismiss; put out of mind, Inf. pay no mind, forget, ignore; put off, Inf. put on the back burner, Inf. sweep under the rug; postpone, sleep on, delay, defer; shelve, table, pigeonhole, file away, do it mafiana.

16. lay away

a. lay in, store, stockpile, hoard, accumulate, amass; garner, collect, treasure; pile, stack, stow away, Inf. stash, heap; reserve, save, put away, put or lay aside, set by, preserve, retain; deposit, reposit, shelve; build up a nest egg, save for a rainy day, husband, economize.b. bury, inter, inhume, entomb, consign to the grave; lay to rest, put to rest, Inf. plant, Sl. put six feet under, Sl. deep-six.

17. lay bare

expose, uncover, divest, lay open; unmask, unveil, undrape, unclothe, uncloak, undress, remove the mask or veil or chadri; lift the curtain, bring to light, let into the sunshine; peel, shuck, bare, show, strip; unearth, exhume, exhibit, disinter; disclose, divulge, reveal; broadcast, publish, air, make known, relate, tell, utter, unfold, narrate, breathe; make a clean breast, unburden, open; confess, acknowledge, admit, own, allow; blurt out, blab, let slip, leak, let the cat out of the bag.

18. lay down

give, give up, drop, quit, relinquish; yield, cede, turn over, surrender, submit.

19. lay down the law

command, dictate, order, mandate; direct, govern, regulate, control, call the shots; crack down, put one's foot down, read the riot act, brook no denial, not take no for an answer, insist, demand; dogmatize, assert, proclaim, maintain; dominate, take the upper hand, rule the roost, show who's boss; domineer, intimidate, Inf. bulldoze, ride roughshod over, rule with an iron fist, lord it over.

20. lay for

Slang. lie in wait for, ambush, ambuscade, lurk, skulk, prowl; Sl. set up, Sl. set up for a fall; entrap, set a trap for, ensnare, waylay, await, sneak up on.

21. lay hold of

grab, nab, seize, snatch; catch, get hold of, get, stop, snag; clutch, grip, clasp, grasp; clinch, grapple; wrest, pull, jerk, twist.

22. lay it on

Informal. a. exaggerate, embroider, hyperbolize, stretch a point, stretch the truth, talk big, boast, blow one's own horn.b. flatter, Inf. soft-soap, jolly, butter up, slaver, fawn, drool; blarney, wheedle, cajole; praise, overpraise, praise to the skies, overlaud, pile it on, lay it on with a trowel, slather; give fulsome praise, overdo it.

23. lay off

a. dismiss, discharge, let go, fire, cashier, strike off the rolls, give [s.o.] the pink slip; sack, kick out, can, give the ax, ax, bounce, chuck.b.Slang, (usu. imperative) quit, quit it, stay, stop; withhold, desist, Naut. avast, cease, belay, hold off, let up, get off my back; enough, aw c'mon, Sl. alright already; knock it off, cut it out, can it; come off it; psst, hush, shh, shush.

24. lay out

a. arrange, lay in order, prepare, set up or forth; design, plan, map, chart; outline, put down, sketch.b. spend, expend, pay, disburse; shell out, fork out, ante up; contribute, give.c.Slang. knock out, K.O. or kayo, knock galley-west, put out of action; flatten, strike down, topple, fell; demolish, annihilate, destroy, blitz, kill.

25. lay out in lavender

Slang. tell off, bawl out, yell at, tell a thing or two, tell where to go, give a piece of one's mind, call on the carpet; upbraid, reprove, rebuke, reprimand; scold, admonish, chide, berate, take to task, Inf. give what for, put the fear of God into; tear the hide off, scorch, wither, demolish.

26. lay over

a. postpone, put over, defer, let hang fire, table, lay aside.b. stop, stop over, rest, break, overnight.

27. lay up

ail, fall ill, disable; get the miseries, catch a bug; droop, languish, fail, wilt, weaken, lose strength; take to one's bed.

n

28. form, order, posture, attitude, stance; plan, design, appearance; terrain, course.

II

adj

1. laic, nonclerical, nonordained, non-ministerial; profane, nonreligious, nonecclesiastical; mundane, temporal, earthly, worldly, common, ordinary.

2. nonprofessional, dilettante, dilettantish, proletarian, plebian; unschooled, untaught, amateur.

III

n

poem, lyric, epode, canzone, canzona, ballade, ballata, rhyme, rime, canto; song, strain, air, descant, refrain, canzonet, roundelay; ballad, lied, cantata, canticle, Music. cantus firmus, carol; art song, ditty, madrigal, recitative.