lay on
Britishverb
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to provide or supply
to lay on entertainment
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to install
to lay on electricity
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informal
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to exaggerate, esp when flattering
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to charge an exorbitant price
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to punish or strike harshly
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Cover with, apply; also, use. For example, He decided to lay on a second coat of primer , or She laid on a thick Southern accent . [c. 1600] Also see lay it on thick .
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Inflict blows, attack, as in “Lay on, Macduff; and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'” (Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5:8 ). [Early 1200s]
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Impose or cast something on someone, as in The government laid a tax on landholders , or Dad had a way of laying the guilt for his shortcomings on his partners . This usage is also found in , as in Nancy could always find someone to lay the blame on , or Jerry put the blame on Bill . [1300s]
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.
There, in the distance, Twitch lay on the far side, while just behind her loomed the great black-backed gull with one of its claws brushing down upon her back.
From Literature
I lay on the ground, still as a dead chicken, and looked up at Red.
From Literature
Finch said after the surgery she had to lay on her front and was only allowed to stand up for one hour a day.
From BBC
She said the experience had been "absolute hell", adding it took her six months before she could lay on her back again.
From BBC
Wells and many others had been, that Christianity, and religious belief itself, lay on the verge of extinction.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
