1
as in to enact
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to declare
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to specify
to give the rules about (something) clearly and exactly
the supervisor laid down the procedure for a complaint of sexual harassment
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
commanded the surrounded troops to lay down their weapons
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of lay down
Ultimately, John went and lay down in a guest room for half of the party, drove himself home and died within the next 12 hours from a brain aneurysm.
—
Rebecca Edmisten, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
Once the mattress was placed on the new queen bed frame, that first lay down was glorious.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 7 Jan. 2026
Drink now or lay down for a few years.
—Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 2 Jan. 2026
Second Movement Next, place the roller behind you and lay down over it; this time with the roller perpendicular to your spine.
—Jennifer Shanker, Flow Space, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lay down
Rebecca Edmisten, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
Once the mattress was placed on the new queen bed frame, that first lay down was glorious.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 7 Jan. 2026
Drink now or lay down for a few years.
—Mike Desimone, Robb Report, 2 Jan. 2026
Second Movement Next, place the roller behind you and lay down over it; this time with the roller perpendicular to your spine.
—Jennifer Shanker, Flow Space, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lay down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay down
Verb
-
That coming Fall of 2020, universal masking in schools and daycares was recommended by the CDC and widespread mandates were enacted at the state, district and county levels for children as young as two.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
1 June 2026
-
Instead, the measure freezes corporate net operating loss and enacts taxes on social media companies, digital assets, fantasy sports, tobacco and sports betting on prediction market websites.—
Lauren Victory,
CBS News,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
The objective should not be to declare a formal blockade of Russian ports, which would invite unnecessary legal and political risk.—
David A. Deptula,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
-
The electoral body has declared Monday a national holiday, with government offices closed to encourage citizens to vote.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
Calfee tandems are custom-built, with consumers specifying nearly all components, at an average price of $20k.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
1 June 2026
-
No back orders, unless specified by the individual vendor.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Consumers are intrigued by convenience, but at the same time clearly uneasy about relinquishing control.—
Jacques Ledbetter,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2026
-
Days after being released on a 1 million-euro bail, the company announced that the 45-year-old has temporarily relinquished his roles as vice chairman and as a member of the board of directors.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
26 May 2026
Verb
-
Our ancestors—the hard-working, long-suffering peasant women who told these stories to each other and passed them down the generations through the oral tradition—knew everything there was to know about adversity.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
-
The massive red-brick building opened in 1900 and 12 million immigrants passed through its halls before the island closed in 1954.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
Verb
-
Borderless identity also introduces geopolitical complexity where nation-states increasingly assert digital sovereignty.—
Morey Haber,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
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The language push comes amid signs of a shift in some other Gulf countries, where younger locals are no longer looking so much to the West for validation and are increasingly comfortable asserting their identity in their own language.—
Manal Albarakati,
semafor.com,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
But Kyiv’s early embrace of drones, and the mass-industrialization of their accuracy and power, has begun to exact a defining toll on Moscow.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
30 May 2026
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Taken together, those cultural threads help explain why food – and especially meat – carries an outsized symbolic role in Texas politics, where the official state dish, adopted in 1977, is chili, defined by its significant meat base.—
Rebecca Morin,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
Verb
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The latter has access to the psychic beacon of the Astronomican, which is used to correctly navigate the galaxy and the chaos of Warpspace, but in the Dark Imperium (Nihilus), faster-than-light travel has been rendered almost impossible.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
2 June 2026
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Officers and emergency medical personnel attempted to render aid, but McFarland was pronounced dead at the scene.—
Bradford Betz,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2026
Video
Lay vs. Lie
Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.
Cite this Entry
“Lay down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20down. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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