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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lay down
Then my sister lay down next to me.
—
NPR, 26 Nov. 2025
Millions of Russian men, unwilling to take on lower-status work, lay down on the couch and took to drink.
—Julia Ioffe, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
Second, disassociate from Hamas and other terrorist groups, including Iran, lay down all arms, and come to the table with a plan to live in harmony with Israel.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2025
Hamas fighters who lay down their arms will also be given amnesty and allowed to leave Gaza under the plan.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lay down
NPR, 26 Nov. 2025
Millions of Russian men, unwilling to take on lower-status work, lay down on the couch and took to drink.
—Julia Ioffe, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
Second, disassociate from Hamas and other terrorist groups, including Iran, lay down all arms, and come to the table with a plan to live in harmony with Israel.
—Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2025
Hamas fighters who lay down their arms will also be given amnesty and allowed to leave Gaza under the plan.
—Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lay down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay down
Verb
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But if the owners and players refuse to enact real reform, the expiration of a collective-bargaining agreement in December could lead not only to a lockout and lost games next year but a decline in the popularity and competitiveness of the national pastime itself.—
Paul Bledsoe,
Baltimore Sun,
2 Mar. 2026
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The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has selected a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) to enact the law, which mandates that producers of textiles and apparel pay into a system to keep waste out of landfills.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Multiple Iranian state media outlets confirmed Khamenei’s death on Sunday morning, hours after US and Israeli officials declared he had been killed in their joint strikes targeting his regime.—
Abbas Al Lawati,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026
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And although astronomical spring — when the sun is directly over the equator — doesn’t arrive until March 20, some people living along the East Coast may be happy to declare winter over.—
Ben Noll,
Washington Post,
1 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The certificate specified that Oseguera Cervantes had bullet wounds to his chest, abdomen and legs.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
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Today, entrants must brush up on the formal definitions of substance use disorders as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and familiarize themselves with classification criteria specified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine.—
Paul Sisson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But trade for both, and relinquish a first-round pick in both deals?—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
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Government has longer-term leverage Despite the shift toward commercial technology, defense leaders are unlikely to relinquish control over mission critical systems.—
Barbara Booth,
CNBC,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The bill that already passed the Senate would have required aircraft to be equipped with a system that can receive data about the locations of other aircraft.—
Josh Funk,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
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When a soccer player runs downfield in anticipation of the ball being passed to them, the goal is to have the ball arrive where the player will be in the future, but that mental calculation is familiar to us, intuitively, because the soccer field itself is static and unchanging.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Polling suggests the political picture is more complicated than the loudest voices on either side assert.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Mar. 2026
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Iran asserts control over the passage of tankers through the strait.—
Max Zahn,
ABC News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The result is a statute built for a world of rotary dials, operating in a world defined by fiber optics and streaming platforms.—
Jay Caruso,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Feb. 2026
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Both sides lacked the front-end leverage, the creative structural adjustments, the bonding support mechanisms, the weekly oversight infrastructure, and the advance forecasting discipline that defined the successful projects.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Prices are reasonable, and treatments can be booked on your cottage terrace, which, when said terrace overlooks the Caribbean from a volcanic hilltop, renders any dedicated spa building beside the point.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Feb. 2026
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By Rachel Metz, Bloomberg Anthropic PBC is expanding the reach of its Claude chatbot into new sectors, weeks after the startup sparked a market meltdown with the release of tools that raised questions about AI’s potential to render entire businesses obsolete.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
24 Feb. 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 3 Mar. 2026.
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