laying on

verb

present participle of lay on
1
as in applying
to put a layer of on a surface she lays the butter on so thickly that you hardly taste the bagel

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in employing
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 laying on
  1. applying
  2. employing
  3. spreading
  4. hiring
  5. smearing
  6. recruiting
  7. laying
  8. taking on
Verb
  • The people in the crosshairs The most drastic shifts impact those who plan to stay in Japan for the longest – those applying for permanent residency, a status that grants rights to work, unlimited entries, and infinite stay.
    — Christine Miyawaki, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026
  • In a normal Transformer, tokens—the units of information that large language models process—are passed from lower layers of a model’s neural network to higher layers sequentially, with each layer applying mathematical operations in turn.
    — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of applying
Verb
  • The aircraft’s multi-role design also gives commanders greater flexibility in employing it for different missions rather than limiting it to the traditional air-superiority role associated with earlier Eagle variants.
    — Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Almost all of the gains came from big business, with companies employing 500 or more workers adding 34,000 while those with fewer than 50 employees rose by 3,000.
    — Jeff Cox, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of employing
Verb
  • The resumption of classes comes in the middle of a ravaging disease outbreak that is spreading rapidly.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Don’t be alarmed, but George Michael fever — which is the incessant urge to listen to the music British singer-songwriter George Michael — has been spreading for the past couple of years.
    — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of spreading
Verb
  • Cover letters that make clear the candidate understands the role can help hiring managers decide between similarly qualified candidates.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Call The Pros Finally, if all else fails, hiring a pest control service can be a great way to get the pigeon situation under control for good.
    — Molly Burford, Southern Living, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of hiring
Verb
  • At the entrance of Kollparay, Quispe pauses, taking my hands and smearing them with soil—the soil of her village.
    — Paola Miglio, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 June 2026
  • This will lead to smearing dust particles around instead of picking them up, which is where a wet cloth comes into play.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 5 June 2026
Definition of smearing
Verb
  • Fenerbahce got in on the act by recruiting Nathan Ake from Manchester City and Greenwood from Marseille, bluntly unconcerned by the latter’s past.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • But the administration, led by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, has pushed ahead, recruiting bankers to help wield a loan authority that has swelled from $1 billion to $200 billion thanks to the recent Republican party-line tax bill.
    — Eleanor Mueller, semafor.com, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of recruiting
Verb
  • From the battlefields of Afghanistan expelling a global superpower to laying the groundwork for al-Qaeda, FOX News experts and former intelligence officials break down the roots of modern terrorism.
    — , FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Germany and Italy expanded motorway networks—the Autobahn and the autostrada—laying the foundations for the automobile’s privileged position in this modernity.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of laying
Verb
  • Tonga, the sixth-year pro who helped the New England Patriots return to the Super Bowl last season, excels at taking on double teams.
    — Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Before taking on her first solo anchoring role, Hylton frequently served as a fill-in anchor across the network’s morning, dayside and primetime programming.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of taking on
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

laying off (of)
laying on
laying on of hands
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Laying on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laying%20on. Accessed 8 Sep. 2026.

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