laid down

verb

past tense of lay down
1
as in enacted
to put into effect through legislative or authoritative action the city council promises to lay down new ordinances that will force dog walkers to clean up after their animals

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2
as in declared
to state clearly and strongly at the risk of their popularity, the parents laid down the rules for the party and wouldn't accept any arguments

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3
as in specified
to give the rules about (something) clearly and exactly the supervisor laid down the procedure for a complaint of sexual harassment

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4
as in relinquished
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress commanded the surrounded troops to lay down their weapons

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for laid down
  1. enacted
  2. declared
  3. specified
  4. relinquished
  5. passed
  6. asserted
  7. defined
  8. rendered
Verb
  • Florida enacted new laws cracking down on miscreants in the treatment industry.
    — Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 5 July 2026
  • Passed as the second of three Reconstruction amendments, the 14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War.
    — Ashley Mowreader, NBC news, 4 July 2026
Definition of enacted
Verb
  • Iran’s new energy weapon Following the start of US- and Israeli-led attacks on February 28, Iran almost immediately declared the Strait of Hormuz closed, creating the largest oil supply shock in history.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
  • Miami-Dade Fire Rescue declared Valderrama Murillo dead at the scene.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
Definition of declared
Verb
  • Swinehart’s lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages, although no amount is specified.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 18 July 2026
  • Even though it is not specified which robot model was used, developers said every cooking session generates valuable real-world data that helps improve the robot’s ability to manipulate delicate objects and perform increasingly complex tasks.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 17 July 2026
Definition of specified
Verb
  • Around 2021, this collector relinquished 34 objects (including the bronze Buddhas).
    — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 10 July 2026
  • Briscoe came out of the pits with the lead with 42 laps to go and never relinquished it despite a strong push from Bell.
    — Steve Millar, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2026
Definition of relinquished
Verb
  • Saudi Arabia briefly issued warnings in two locations before lifting them several minutes later, saying the danger had passed.
    — Monica Haider, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
  • In short, every transformation of the data passed through, from filtering and deduplication to augmentation, must be timestamped and attributed.
    — Akash Pugalia, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of passed
Verb
  • The palace asserted that there would be no photos released and no details of what was discussed.
    — Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 16 July 2026
  • In a Fox News op-ed published Monday, the hard-line conservative asserted that the upper chamber takes too many recesses and has too short of a workweek.
    — Matthew Choi, Washington Post, 13 July 2026
Definition of asserted
Verb
  • Size representation on the runway this season was defined by a more fragmented set of ideals.
    — Amy Francombe, Vogue, 6 July 2026
  • Remarkably, in a game defined by the South American team’s lack of sportsmanship, this became the first World Cup game in which a Paraguay player did not receive a yellow card since 1998.
    — Adam Crafton, New York Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of defined
Verb
  • The rain had rendered the dirt tracks we were meant to use … um, unusable.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 July 2026
  • The responding officers rendered first aid to the victims before they were taken to local hospitals.
    — Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of rendered
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

laid by
laid down
laid eyes on
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Cite this Entry

“Laid down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laid%20down. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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