1
as in to dump
to get rid of as useless or unwanted
a politician who had laid by his principles years ago
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to store
to put (something of future use or value) in a safe or secret place
ever since the last hurricane caught them unprepared, they have laid by emergency supplies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay by
Verb
-
If an Islander isn’t chosen, this often means that they have been dumped from the island.—
Carolyn Burt,
Oc Register,
29 May 2026 -
Watch parties became a go-to event for fans to observe their favorite contestants, make up, break up or get dumped from the island.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
Engineers had to come up with their own substitutes for some of the basic tools that other developers use to store code, launch websites, and set up servers.—
Bozorgmehr Sharafedin,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
-
Then the samples sat in an incubator for over 1,000 days, as the researchers focused on their other experiments into how microbes process and store carbon in soil.—
Siddhant Pusdekar,
Quanta Magazine,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
That creature cruelly draining and discarding the aged?—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
31 May 2026
-
The first-stage booster that had been tapped during the original attempts was discarded for a new booster.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
On Saturday morning, those hopes lay in tatters.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
-
Police now say that a former boyfriend, 47-year-old Juan Marquez of Hawthorne, lay in wait near her workplace, described on air as Families Together of Orange County.—
Jeff Horseman,
Oc Register,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
Soriano mostly ditched his four-seam fastball late in the outing and tried to rely on his splitter and knuckle-curve.—
Doug Padilla,
Oc Register,
2 June 2026
-
City birds ditch nature Male bowerbirds do not help raise young.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
The former officer was accused of secretly stashing millions of dollars in gold bars in his home, according to court documents and two people familiar with his employment history.—
Jeremy Mikula,
NBC news,
30 May 2026
-
The three‑zipper layout keeps clothing, tech, and toiletries neatly separated, while interior pockets stash small essentials.—
Paris Wilson,
Travel + Leisure,
29 May 2026
Verb
-
Instead, when the lorries arrived with more beer, the Scots hopped aboard and helped unload the kegs themselves.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
-
Down in the pit, on a raw October night in 1966, one of the giant haulers was unloading its tonnage when the pistons of its dump bed seized up.—
Jonathan Franzen,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Verb
-
Female moths can lay up to 500 eggs at a time.7 Pantry moths are most destructive in their larval stage, so discouraging this stage will help prevent the infestation from spreading.—
Lauren Wicks,
Southern Living,
13 May 2026
-
The neo-bluegrass musician took to social media Monday to post photos of himself laid up in a hospital bed, along with multiple X-rays of the nuts and bolts now holding his leg together.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
20 Apr. 2026
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.
Video
Lay vs. Lie
Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.
Cite this Entry
“Lay by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20by. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
