lay

lay is a 3-letter English word with 49 senses as adjective, noun, transitive verb, intransitive verb, and verb in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: of Lie, to recline. Face value is 6 in Scrabble and 6 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

3 letters · Scrabble 6 · Words With Friends 6 · 49 senses

Definitions

1. past tense. of Lie, to recline.
2. adjective. Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.
3. adjective. Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
4. adjective. Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease.
5. noun. The laity; the common people.
6. noun. A meadow. See Lea.
7. noun. Faith; creed; religious profession.
8. noun. A law.
9. noun. An obligation; a vow.
10. adjective. A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad.
11. adjective. A melody; any musical utterance.
12. transitive verb. To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower lays the dust.
13. transitive verb. To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table.
14. transitive verb. To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.
15. transitive verb. To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.
16. transitive verb. To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit.
17. transitive verb. To cause to lie dead or dying.
18. transitive verb. To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.
19. transitive verb. To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.
20. transitive verb. To apply; to put.
21. transitive verb. To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.
22. transitive verb. To impute; to charge; to allege.
23. transitive verb. To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one.
24. transitive verb. To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one.
25. transitive verb. To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.
26. transitive verb. To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.
27. transitive verb. To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as, to lay a cable or rope.
28. transitive verb. To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
29. transitive verb. To place (new type) properly in the cases.
30. intransitive verb. To produce and deposit eggs.
31. intransitive verb. To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft.
32. intransitive verb. To lay a wager; to bet.
33. noun. That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.
34. transitive verb. A wager.
35. transitive verb. A job, price, or profit.
36. transitive verb. A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise; as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay.
37. transitive verb. A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a).
38. transitive verb. The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.
39. transitive verb. A plan; a scheme.
40. past tense. of Lie
41. noun. a narrative poem of popular origin

    Synonyms: ballad

42. noun. a narrative song with a recurrent refrain

    Synonyms: ballad

43. verb. put into a certain place or abstract location

    "Put your things here"

    "Set the tray down"

    Synonyms: place, pose, position, put, set

44. verb. put in a horizontal position

    "lay the books on the table"

    "lay the patient carefully onto the bed"

    Synonyms: repose

45. verb. lay eggs

    "This hen doesn't lay"

46. verb. prepare or position for action or operation

    "lay a fire"

    "lay the foundation for a new health care plan"

47. verb. impose as a duty, burden, or punishment

    "lay a responsibility on someone"

48. adjective. not of or from a profession

    "a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease"

49. adjective. characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy

    "set his collar in laic rather than clerical position"

    "the lay ministry"

    Synonyms: laic, secular

Synonyms

ballad, place, pose, position, put, set, repose, laic, secular

Anagrams

Other playable words that use exactly the letters in lay:

aly

Common word forms

lays, layed, layer, laying

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for LAY lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.