waylaid
ˈwā-ˌlād 
; waylaying; waylays
; waylaying; waylays
1
: to lie in wait for or attack (someone) from ambush
… he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of trouble yet.—
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens2
: to temporarily stop the movement or progress of (someone or something)
The barkeeper, Tony, would come out of his saloon and wait to waylay the men going home. He could always entice a man with a full pocket into his saloon.—Meridel Le Sueur
Meridel Le SueurI can get waylaid by tangential thoughts and associations in mid-sentence, and this leads to parentheses, subordinate clauses, sentences of paragraphic length. I never use one adjective if six seem to me better and, in their cumulative effect, more incisive.—Oliver Sacks
Oliver SacksExamples of waylay in a Sentence
Gangs sometimes waylay travelers on that road.
We were waylaid by a group of kids with water balloons.
Recent Examples on the Web
Without the mesh, the moisture evaporates in the dry air as the temperature rises each day, but with it, the fog would be only temporarily waylaid– providing valuable fresh water to people, before it’s treated and cycled back into the ocean.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 20 Feb. 2025
In late November, Israeli forces opened fire on looters waiting to waylay trucks in Rafah, forcing them to retreat, according to an internal U.N. memo.
—Adam Rasgon, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2024
On the corporate front, the timing of the showdown has not been ideal for Paramount, whose pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media has been waylaid by complaints about CBS News by President Donald Trump.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025
Former President Joe Biden waylaid justice with a flurry of last-minute pardons of his own family members.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025
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Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 20 Feb. 2025
In late November, Israeli forces opened fire on looters waiting to waylay trucks in Rafah, forcing them to retreat, according to an internal U.N. memo.
—Adam Rasgon, New York Times, 23 Dec. 2024
On the corporate front, the timing of the showdown has not been ideal for Paramount, whose pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media has been waylaid by complaints about CBS News by President Donald Trump.
—Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025
Former President Joe Biden waylaid justice with a flurry of last-minute pardons of his own family members.
—Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for waylay
Cite this Entry
“Waylay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waylay. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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