lay meaning
EN
[leɪ̯] [-eɪ] 
US WLay
- Lay may refer to:
EN Lay 
- NounPLlays
- Arrangement or relationship; layout.
- the lay of the land
- A share of the profits in a business.
- The direction a rope is twisted.
- Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.
- (colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
- (colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
- (slang, archaic) A plan; a scheme.
- (uncountable) the laying of eggs.
- The hens are off the lay at present.
- A lake.
- A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
- (obsolete) A meadow; a lea.
- (obsolete) A law.
- (obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
- Arrangement or relationship; layout.
- VerbSGlaysPRlayingPT, PPlaid
- (transitive) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
- to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave
- A shower of rain lays the dust.
- (transitive, archaic) To cause to subside or abate.
- (transitive) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
- (transitive) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
- lay brick; lay flooring
- (transitive) To produce and deposit an egg.
- (transitive) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
- I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
- (transitive) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
- (transitive, slang) To have sex with.
- (nautical) To take a position; to come or go.
- to lay forward; to lay aloft
- (law) To state; to allege.
- to lay the venue
- (military) To point; to aim.
- to lay a gun
- (ropemaking) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
- to lay a cable or rope
- (printing) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
- (printing) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
- To apply; to put.
- To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
- to lay a tax on land
- To impute; to charge; to allege.
- To present or offer.
- to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one
- simple past tense of lie when pertaining to position.
- The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
- (proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).
- (Judaism, transitive) To don (put on) (tefillin (phylacteries)).
- (transitive) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
- AdjectiveCOMmore laySUPmost lay
- Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
- He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. [...] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four.
- Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
- They seemed more lay than clerical.
- a lay preacher; a lay brother
- (obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
- Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
- More Examples
- Used in the Middle of Sentence
- The company chose to downsize by laying off half of its workers.
- Dietrich and Lenya lacked a number of singerly virtues, but their strengths lay in a kind of extramusical quality of feeling and experience.
- And he gi'ed him anither shake--then, laying haud of his nose, he swore that he would pu't as lang as a cow's tail, if he didna that instant restore him his lost property.
- Used in the Beginning of Sentence
- Lay off the singing, will you! I'm trying to study.
- Used in the Ending of Sentence
- Dave hasn't even touched a woman in three months. We have to get him laid.
- Used in the Middle of Sentence
Definition of lay in English Dictionary
- Part-of-Speech Hierarchy
- Adjectives
- Nouns
- Countable nouns
- Singularia tantum
- Uncountable nouns
- Uncountable nouns
- Countable nouns
- Verbs
- Verb forms
- Verb simple past forms
- Verb simple past forms
- Causative verbs
- Transitive verbs
- Verbs by inflection type
- Irregular verbs
- Irregular verbs
- Verb forms
- Adjectives
Source: Wiktionary
Grammatically, this word "lay" is an adjective. It's also a noun, more specifically, a countable noun and a singularia tantum. It's also a verb, more specifically, a verb form, a causative verb, a transitive verb and a verbs by inflection type.