[lay on]{v.} 1. To spread on or over a surface; apply. •/He told us that we should lay on a second coat of paint for better protection against the weather./ 2. To beat; to strike. •/Little John seized a staff and began to lay on with great energy./ 3. See: LAY IT ON.
[lay one’s cards on the table] or [lay down one’s cards] or [put one’s cards on the table] {v. phr.}, {informal} To let someone know your position and interest openly; deal honestly; act without trickery or secrets. •/In talking about buying the property, Peterson laid his cards on the table about his plans for it./ •/Some of the graduates of the school were unfriendly toward the new superintendent, but he put his cards on the table and won their support./
[lay oneself open to]{v. phr.} To make oneself vulnerable to; expose oneself. •/If you don’t perform your job properly, you will lay yourself open to criticism./
[lay oneself out]{v. phr.}, {informal} To make an extra hard effort; try very hard. •/Larry wanted to win a medal for his school, so he really laid himself out in the race./
[lay one’s finger on] See: PUT ONE’S FINGER ON.
[lay one’s hands on] or [get one’s hands on] {v. phr.} 1. To seize in order to punish or treat roughly. •/If I ever lay my hands on that boy he’ll be sorry./ Compare: LAY A FINGER ON. 2. To get possession of. •/He was unable to lay his hands on a Model T Ford for the school play./ Compare: LAY HANDS ON(1). 3. or [lay one’s hand on] or [put one’s hand on] To find; locate. •/He keeps a file of letters so he can lay his hands on one whenever he needs it./
[lay on the line] or [put on the line] {v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To pay or offer to pay. •/The sponsors had to lay nearly a million dollars on the line to keep the show on TV./ •/The bank is putting $5,000 on the line as a reward to anyone who catches the robber./ Compare: PUT UP. 2. To say plainly so that there can be no doubt; tell truthfully, •/I’m going to lay it on the line for you, Paul. You must work harder if you want to pass./ 3. To take a chance of losing; risk. •/The champion is laying his title on the line in the fight tonight./ •/Frank decided to lay his job on the line and tell the boss that he thought he was wrong./
[lay out]{v. phr.} 1. To prepare (a dead body) for burial. •/The corpse was laid out by the undertaker./ 2. {slang} To knock down flat; to hit unconscious. •/A stiff right to the jaw laid the boxer out in the second round./ 3. To plan. •/Come here, Fred, I have a job laid out for you./ 4. To mark or show where work is to be done. •/The foreman laid out the job for the new machinist./ 5. To plan the building or arrangement of; design. •/The architect laid out the interior of the building./ •/The early colonists laid out towns in the wilderness./ Compare: LAY OFF(1). 6. {slang} To spend; pay. •/How much did you have to lay out for your new car?/ 7. or [lay out in lavender] {slang} To scold; lecture. •/He was laid out in lavender for arriving an hour late for the dance./ Compare: JUMP ON, LAY INTO(2), LET HAVE IT(1c).
[layout]{n.} General situation; arrangement; plan. •/The layout of their apartment overlooking Lake Michigan was strikingly unusual./ Compare: LAID OUT.
[layover]{n.} A stopover, usually at an airport or in a hotel due to interrupted air travel. •/There were several layovers at O’Hare last month due to bad weather./
[lay over]{v.} 1. To put off until later; delay; postpone. •/We voted to lay the question over to our next meeting for decision./ 2. To arrive in one place and wait some time before continuing the journey. •/We had to lay over in St. Louis for two hours waiting for a plane to Seattle./
[lay rubber] or [lay a patch] {v. phr.}, {slang} To take off in a car or a motorcycle so fast that the tires (made of rubber) leave a mark on the pavement. •/Look at those crazy drag racers; they laid rubber in front of my house./
[lay the blame at one’s door]{v. phr.} To say that another person or group is responsible for one’s own failure. •/The angry coach laid the blame at the door of the players when our college lost the basketball game./
[lay the fault at one’s door] See: LAY THE BLAME AT ONE’S DOOR.
[lay their heads together] See: PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER.
[lay to]{v.} 1. To give the blame or credit to; to name as cause. •/He was unpopular and when he made money, it was laid to his dishonesty, but when he lost money, it was laid to his stupidity./ Compare: LAY AT ONE’S DOOR. 2. To hold a ship or boat still against the wind. •/The pirates decided to lay to that night and go ashore in the morning./ Compare: LIE TO. 3. To exert oneself; to work hard. •/He picked up a shovel and laid to with the rest of the gang./
[lay to heart] See: TAKE TO HEART.
[lay to rest]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To put a dead person into a grave or tomb; bury. •/President Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery./ 2. To get rid of; put away permanently; stop. •/The Scoutmaster’s fears that Tom had drowned were laid to rest when Tom came back and said he had gone for a boat ride./ •/The rumor that the principal had accepted another job was laid to rest when he said it wasn’t true./
[lay up]{v.} 1. To collect a supply of; save for future, use; store. •/Bees lay up honey for the winter./ 2. To keep in the house or in bed because of sickness or injury; disable. •/Jack was laid up with a twisted knee and couldn’t play in the final game./ 3. To take out of active service; put in a boat dock or a garage. •/Bill had to lay up his boat when school started./ •/If you lay up a car for the winter, you should take out the battery./
[lay waste]{v. phr.}, {literary} To cause wide and great damage to; destroy and leave in ruins; wreck. •/Enemy soldiers laid waste the land./
[lead] See: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME, BLIND LEADING THE BLIND.
[lead] See: GET THE LEAD OUT OF ONE’S PANTS.
[lead a dog’s life]{v. phr.}, {informal} To live a hard life, work hard, and be treated unkindly. •/A new college student of long ago led a dog’s life./
[lead a merry chase]{v. phr.} To delay or escape capture by (someone) skillfully; make (a pursuer) work hard. •/The deer led the hunter a merry chase./ •/Valerie is leading her boyfriend a merry chase./
[lead by the nose]{v. phr.}, {informal} To have full control of; make or persuade (someone) to do anything whatever. •/Many people are easily influenced and a smart politician can lead them by the nose./ •/Don’t let anyone lead you by the nose; use your own judgment and do the right thing./
[leader] See: MAJORITY LEADER, MINORITY LEADER.
[lead-footed] See: HEAVY-FOOTED.
[leading light]{n. phr.} A prominent person in a community, company, or group. •/Alan is the leading light of our discussion group on music./
[lead off]{v.} To begin; start; open. •/Richardson led off the inning with a double./ •/We always let Henry lead off./ •/Mr. Jones led off with the jack of diamonds./ •/When the teacher asked if the film helped them to understand, Phil led off by saying that he learned a lot from it./
[lead on]{v. phr.} To encourage you to believe something untrue or mistaken. •/Tom led us on to believe that he was a world traveler, but we found out that he had never been outside our state./ •/We were led on to think that Jeanne and Jim were engaged to be married./
[lead one a merry dance]{v. phr.} To cause someone unusual discomfort or expense; tire someone by causing one to overdo. •/With her personal extravagances and constant social activities that cost a fortune, Carol led her husband a merry dance./
[lead the way]{v. phr.} To go before and show how to go somewhere; guide. •/The boys need someone to lead the way on their hike./ •/The men hired an Indian to lead the way to the Pueblo ruins./ •/That school led the way in finding methods to teach reading./
[lead to]{v. phr.} To result in. •/Such a heavy arms race can only lead to war./
[leaf] See: TURN OVER A NEW LEAF.
[leaf through]{v. phr.} To scan or glance through a book or other reading matter. •/I only had time to leaf through the program before the concert started./
[league] See: IN LEAGUE WITH, IVY LEAGUE.
[leaguer] See: TEXAS LEAGUER.
[leak out]{v. phr.} To become known; escape. •/The famous beauty queen tried to keep her marriage a secret, but news of it soon leaked out./
[leak to]{v. phr.} To purposely let a secret be known, as if conveying it in the strictest confidence. •/The movie star’s secret divorce was leaked to the tabloids by her housekeeper./
[lean on]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To pressure (someone) by blackmailing, threats, physical violence, or the withholding of some favor in order to make the person comply with a wish or request. •/I would gladly do what you ask if you only stopped leaning on me so hard!/
[lean over backward] See: BEND OVER BACKWARD.
[lean-to]{n.} 1. A shed for tools, such as spades, hoes, etc., attached to the wall of a house, •/Joe looked for the garden hose in the lean-to./ 2. A small cabin in the country. •/They spend their weekends in their modest lean-to in Wisconsin./
[leap] See: BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS.
[leap year]{n.} Every fourth year during which the month of February contains 29 rather than 28 days. •/During a leap year one must wait a day longer for one’s February pay check./
[learn] See: LIVE AND LEARN.
[learn by heart] See: BY HEART.
[learn by rote]{v. phr.} To blindly memorize what was taught without thinking about it. •/If you learn a subject by rote, it will be difficult to say anything original about it./
[learn one’s way around] See: KNOW ONE’S WAY AROUND.
[learn the hard way] See: HARD WAY.
[learn the ropes] See: THE ROPES.
[least] See: AT LEAST, IN THE LEAST, LAST BUT NOT LEAST, LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE.
[leatherneck]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} A member of the United States Marine Corps. •/I didn’t know your son Joe became a leatherneck./
[leave] See: SHORE LEAVE, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, TAKE LEAVE OF, TAKE ONE’S LEAVE.
[leave a bad taste in one’s mouth]{v. phr.} To feel a bad impression; make you feel disgusted. •/Seeing a man beat his horse leaves a bad taste in your mouth./ •/His rudeness to the teacher left a bad taste in my mouth./
[leave alone] See: LET ALONE.
[leave at the altar]{v. phr.} 1. To decide not to marry someone in the last minute; jilt. •/Ed left poor Susan at the altar./ 2. To overlook and skip for promotion; not fulfill deserved expectation. •/Once again I didn’t get my promotion and was left at the altar./
[leave behind]{v. phr.} 1. Abandon. •/Refugees on the run must sometimes leave old and sick people behind./ 2. To forget; go away without. •/We had reached our car when we noticed that we had left our keys behind./
[leave flat]{v. phr.}, {informal} To quit or leave suddenly without warning when wanted or needed; desert; forsake; abandon. •/Sam found that being a member of the trail-clearing group was a lot of hard work, so he left them flat./ •/My car ran out of gas and left me flat, ten miles from town./ Compare: LEAVE IN THE LURCH, WALK OUT(2).
[leave hanging] or [leave hanging in the air] {v. phr.} To leave undecided or unsettled. •/Because the committee could not decide on a time and place, the matter of the spring dance was left hanging./ •/Ted’s mother didn’t know what to do about the broken window, so his punishment was left hanging in the air until his father came home./ Compare: UP IN THE AIR.
