(lā) v. laid, lay·ing v.t.
1. To cause to lie; place prostrate or at length; deposit.
2. To put or place: Don't lay a hand on me.
3. To strike or beat down; overthrow; destroy: to lay a city in ashes.
4. To cause to settle or subside, as dust, a storm, etc.
5. To calm or allay, as doubts.
6. To place in regular order or proper position: to lay title.
7. To think out; devise; arrange: to lay plans.
8. To attribute or ascribe: to lay blame.
9. To give importance to; put: to lay emphasis on something.
10. To bring forward; advance, as a claim.
11. To bring forth from the body and deposit, as an egg.
12. To construct; build, as a foundation.
13. To make (a table) ready for a meal.
14. To bury; inter.
15. To impose, as taxes, punishment, etc.; assess.
16. To spread over a surface: to lay a fixative.
17. To strike with or apply, as in punishment: He laid the whip across the culprit's back.
18. To locate: The scene is laid in the boudoir.
19. To set or prepare, as a trap.
20. To place as a wager or bet.
21. To twist strands so as to form (rope).
22. Mil. To aim (a cannon).
23. U.S. Slang To have sexual intercourse with; seduce.
—v.i.
24. To bring forth and deposit eggs.
25. To make a bet or bets.
26. Naut. To go to a specified position: Lay aloft to hand sail!
27. To lie; recline: an incorrect use. See synonyms under PUT¹.
—to lay about one
1. To deal blows on all sides.
2. To exert oneself to the utmost.
—to lay away
1. To store up; save.
2. To bury.
—to lay before To put forward or present, as a report.
—to lay by To lay away (def. 1).
—to lay down
1. To give up or relinquish; sacrifice.
2. To state or proclaim: to lay down the law.
3. To bet.
—to lay for To wait to attack or harm.
—to lay hold of To seize or grasp.
—to lay in To procure and store.
—to lay into To attack vigorously.
—to lay it on Colloq. To be extravagant or exorbitant, as in praise or demands.
—to lay off
1. To take off and put aside, as clothes.
2. To survey; mark off.
3. U.S. Colloq. To dismiss from a job, usually temporarily.
4. U.S. Colloq. To take a rest; stop working.
5. U.S. Slang To stop annoying, teasing, etc.
—to lay on
1. To put on; apply, as color.
2. To beat or strike; attack.
—to lay out
1. To spend.
2. To prepare for burial.
3. Slang To strike prostrate or unconscious.
4. To set forth the details of: to lay out the plot of a novel.
—to lay over To stop, as for a rest, on a journey.
—to lay siege to To besiege.
—to lay up
1. To make a store of.
2. To confine, as by illness or injury.
—noun
1. The manner in which something lies or is placed; relative arrangement: the lay of the land.
2. Slang A line of work; particular business or field of activity.
3. A definite quantity of yarn or thread.
4. The swinging beam or batten of a loom.
5. The direction or amount of twist given to the strands of a rope.
6. A profit or share of profits; a price; specifically, a share of the profits of a whaling or sealing voyage, according to an arrangement made before sailing. [OE lecgan make lie <pt. of licgan lie¹. Akin to LAW¹.]

(lā) adjective
Pertaining to the laity; non–professional; inexperienced. [<OF lai <Med. L laicus <Gk. laīkos <laos the people]

(lā)
Past tense of LIE¹.

(lā) noun
A song, ballad, or narrative poem; also, any melody or melodious utterance. [<OF lai, prob. <Gmc.]