especially: to remain unused, unsought, or uncared for
Lay vs. Lie: Usage Guide
Lay has been used intransitively in the sense of "lie"
going to lay down for a quick nap
since the 14th century. The practice was unremarked until around 1770; attempts to correct it have been a fixture of schoolbooks ever since. Generations of teachers and critics have succeeded in taming most literary and learned writing, but intransitive lay persists in familiar speech and is a bit more common in general prose than one might suspect. Much of the problem lies in the confusing similarity of the principal parts of the two words. Another influence may be a folk belief that lie is for people and lay is for things. Some commentators are ready to abandon the distinction, suggesting that lay is on the rise socially. But if it does rise to respectability, it is sure to do so slowly: many people have invested effort in learning to keep lie and lay distinct. Remember that even though many people do use lay for lie, others will judge you unfavorably if you do.
Verb (1)
the train tracks lie just over that hill
I left the book lying on the counter
paparazzi were lying in wait outside the restaurant, a well-known celebrity hangout Verb (2)
would I lie to you about that? Noun (2)
he wanted to deny the accusation, but he couldn't tell a lie
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Verb
Kline was found lying unresponsive in the street near her home’s driveway with a head wound.—Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 17 Oct. 2025 It was considered immoral to lie and the whole point of writing things down back then was to increase morality and improve society, so there really is no didactic history of forgery.—JSTOR Daily, 16 Oct. 2025
Noun
Washington — The Justice Department on Thursday filed foreign bribery charges against Smartmatic, the voting technology company that is suing Fox News and other prominent pro-Trump figures for defamation over their promotion of 2020 election lies.—Marshall Cohen, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2025 In Pullman’s world, evil is overcome by people choosing truth over lies, action over apathy and empathy over hate, every single day.—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lie
Word History
Etymology
Verb (1) and Noun (1)
Middle English, from Old English licgan; akin to Old High German ligen to lie, Latin lectus bed, Greek lechos
Verb (2)
Middle English, from Old English lēogan; akin to Old High German liogan to lie, Old Church Slavic lŭgati
Noun (2)
Middle English lige, lie, from Old English lyge; akin to Old High German lugī, Old English lēogan to lie
First Known Use
Verb (1)
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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