lay out
Britishverb
-
to arrange or spread out
-
to prepare (a corpse) for burial or cremation
-
to plan or contrive
-
informal to spend (money), esp lavishly
-
informal to knock unconscious
-
informal to exert (oneself) or put (oneself) to an effort
he laid himself out to please us
noun
-
the arrangement or plan of something, such as a building
-
the arrangement of written material, photographs, or other artwork on an advertisement or page in a book, newspaper, etc
-
a preliminary plan indicating this
-
a drawing showing the relative disposition of parts in a machine, etc
-
the act of laying out
-
something laid out
-
the formation of cards on the table in various games, esp in patience
-
informal a residence or establishment, esp a large one
-
Make a detailed plan, design, or explanation, as in They laid out the exact dimensions in order to construct the new display , or Robert laid out next year's plans for his staff . [Mid-1700s]
-
Prepare a dead body for burial, as in He died that morning and was laid out for the wake by afternoon . [Late 1500s]
-
Rebuke harshly, as in She laid me out for breaking the vase . [ Slang ; late 1800s]
-
Knock unconscious or to the ground, render helpless, as in He laid him out with one good punch . [Late 1800s]
-
Expend, spend, as in She laid out a fortune on jewelry . [Mid-1400s]
-
Display or arrange, especially in a particular order, as in He asked her to lay out the merchandise in an attractive way . [Mid-1400s]
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.
On Monday, Citrini Research put out a blog post laying out a hypothetical, cataclysmic near-future in which AI eliminates white-collar jobs, upending companies and entire industries.
From MarketWatch
He has a timeline going out to June 2038, laying out when he will start receiving Social Security payments, when his mortgage will be paid off and when his wife starts receiving pension benefits.
The coroner's inquest - that would conclusively lay out the details of the officers' deaths - is also expected to be delayed indefinitely, according to national paper The Australian.
From BBC
So far, the flood of legal filings are largely carbon copies of each other, laying out the bare facts and reasons why each company is owed money.
The guerrillas impose other demands as well, which they lay out at regular governance meetings: no fighting, no drugs, no theft.
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.
