1
as in to spread
to put a layer of on a surface
she lays the butter on so thickly that you hardly taste the bagel
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to employ
chiefly British
to provide with a paying job
lay on more staff for the busy tourist season in the Lake District
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay on
Verb
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It is spread through close contact with an infected person, such as through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025 -
If that awareness spreads to other highly tariffed sectors, from furniture to heavy machinery, this administration may unintentionally succeed in unlocking widespread adoption of circularity that has eluded its backers for decades.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But American manufacturing looks very different from five decades ago, when millions of workers were employed to perform specific tasks along assembly lines.—
Joel Williams,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
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Companies that employ geopolitical foresight will be better equipped to navigate disruption and unlock growth opportunities.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This philosophy applies to business owners seeking to develop managers and leaders within their organizations.—
Joe Boylan,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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Their work could be a critical step toward the safe and rational decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and the technology could be applied to nuclear accident sites elsewhere in the world.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But as multiple advertising world sources note, Apple has hired its fair share of TV and streaming video veterans over the past couple of years, which, when combined with this newfound desire to cut deals to expand Apple TV’s reach, is certainly suggestive of broader ambitions.—
Alex Weprin,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Oct. 2025
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As part of its hiring blitz, the agency has dropped age, training and education standards and has offered recruits signing bonuses as high as $50,000.—
J. David McSwane,
ProPublica,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Since being deployed to the nation’s capital in August, many guardsmen have been assigned to help with beautification projects like picking up trash and laying mulch, according to CNN.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Oct. 2025
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With each brick laid at The Site, The Toy will document dad’s decades-long dream.—
Dana Harris-Bridson,
IndieWire,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The companies that are surviving can scale from 50 to 300 people on a case-by-case basis, recruiting per project rather than permanently.—
Ben Croll,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
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The researchers set out to explore how this affects female runners by recruiting from running stores in Vancouver, Canada, 21 women across a range of ages, running experience,and training intensity.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Police entered the home on a welfare check and noticed blood smeared on the walls and furniture scattered across the living room.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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Just smear fake blood on your face, get gussied up in your finest wedding attire, and make sure to pose throughout the night, your lips hovering just inches away from each other, but never quite touching.—
James Factora,
Them.,
17 Oct. 2025
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Lay vs. Lie
Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.
Cite this Entry
“Lay on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20on. Accessed 21 Oct. 2025.
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