1. (v.) To set or place; also, the past tense of lie.

2. (a.) of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.

3. (a.) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

4. (a.) Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease.

5. (n.) The laity; the common people.

6. (n.) A meadow. See Lea.

7. (n.) Faith; creed; religious profession.

8. (n.) A law.

9. (n.) An obligation; a vow.

10. (n.) A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad.

11. (n.) A melody; any musical utterance.

12. (v. t.) To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower lays the dust.

13. (v. t.) To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table.

14. (v. t.) To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan.

15. (v. t.) To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint.

16. (v. t.) To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit.

17. (v. t.) To cause to lie dead or dying.

18. (v. t.) To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk.

19. (v. t.) To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs.

20. (v. t.) To apply; to put.

21. (v. t.) To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land.

22. (v. t.) To impute; to charge; to allege.

23. (v. t.) To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one.

24. (v. t.) To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one.

25. (v. t.) To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue.

26. (v. t.) To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun.

27. (v. t.) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as, to lay a cable or rope.

28. (v. t.) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

29. (v. t.) To place (new type) properly in the cases.

30. (v. i.) To produce and deposit eggs.

31. (v. i.) To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft.

32. (v. i.) To lay a wager; to bet.

33. (n.) That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood.

34. (n.) A wager.

35. (n.) A job, price, or profit.

36. (v. t.) A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise; as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay.

37. (n.) A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a).

38. (n.) The lathe of a loom. See Lathe, 3.

39. (n.) A plan; a scheme.

40. (imp.) of Lie