3 PHRASAL VERB To lay out an area of land or a building means to plan and design how its different parts should be arranged. □ [V P n] When we laid out the car parks, we reckoned on one car per four families. □ [V n P ] Only people that use a kitchen all the time understand the best way to lay it out.
4 PHRASAL VERB If you lay out money on something, you spend a large amount of money on it. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P n] You won't have to lay out a fortune for this dining table.
5 → see also layout
▸ lay up PHRASAL VERB [usu passive] If someone is laid up with an illness, the illness makes it necessary for them to stay in bed. [INFORMAL ] □ [be V -ed P + with ] I was laid up in bed with acute rheumatism. □ [be V -ed P ] Powell ruptured a disc in his back and was laid up for a year.
➋ lay /le I /
1 ADJ [ADJ n] You use lay to describe people who are involved with a Christian church but are not members of the clergy or are not monks or nuns. □ Edwards is a Methodist lay preacher and social worker.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] You use lay to describe people who are not experts or professionals in a particular subject or activity. □ It is difficult for a lay person to gain access to medical libraries.
lay|about /le I əbaʊt/ (layabouts ) N‑COUNT If you say that someone is a layabout , you disapprove of them because they do not work and you think they are lazy. [mainly BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ]
la y-by (lay-bys ) N‑COUNT A lay-by is a short strip of road by the side of a main road, where cars can stop for a while. [BRIT ] □ I left my car in a lay-by and set off on foot. in AM, use pull-off , turn-out
lay|er ◆◇◇ /le I ə r / (layers , layering , layered )
1 N‑COUNT A layer of a material or substance is a quantity or piece of it that covers a surface or that is between two other things. □ [+ of ] A fresh layer of snow covered the street. □ Arrange all the vegetables except the potatoes in layers.
2 N‑COUNT If something such as a system or an idea has many layers , it has many different levels or parts. □ [+ of ] …an astounding ten layers of staff between the factory worker and the chief executive. □ [+ of ] Critics and the public puzzle out the layers of meaning in his photos.
3 VERB If you layer something, you arrange it in layers. □ [V n] Layer the potatoes, asparagus and salmon in the tin.
lay|ered /le I ə r d/ ADJ Something that is layered is made or exists in layers. □ Maria wore a layered white dress that rustled when she moved.
lay|man /le I mən/ (laymen )
1 N‑COUNT A layman is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity. □ To the layman, the words 'heart failure' suggest imminent death.
2 N‑COUNT A layman is a man who is involved with the Christian church but is not a member of the clergy or a monk. □ In 1932, one Boston layman wrote to Archbishop William O'Connell in support of Father Coughlin.
lay|off /le I ɒf, [AM ] -ɔːf/ (layoffs )
1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] When there are layoffs in a company, workers are told by their employers to leave their job, usually because there is no more work for them in the company. [BUSINESS ] □ [+ of ] Store closures will result in layoffs of an estimated 2,000 employees.
2 N‑COUNT A layoff is a period of time in which people do not work or take part in their normal activities, often because they are resting or are injured. □ They both made full recoveries after lengthy injury layoffs.
lay|out /le I aʊt/ (layouts ) N‑COUNT The layout of a garden, building, or piece of writing is the way in which the parts of it are arranged. □ [+ of ] He tried to recall the layout of the farmhouse. □ This boat has a good deck layout making everything easy to operate.
la y per|son (lay persons or lay people ) also layperson N‑COUNT A lay person is a person who is not trained, qualified, or experienced in a particular subject or activity.
laze /le I z/ (lazes , lazing , lazed ) VERB If you laze somewhere for a period of time, you relax and enjoy yourself, not doing any work or anything else that requires effort. □ [V ] Fred lazed in an easy chair. □ [V prep] They used the swimming-pool, rode, lazed in the deep shade of the oaks in the heat of the day. ● PHRASAL VERB Laze around or laze about means the same as laze . □ [V P ] He went to Spain for nine months, to laze around and visit relations. □ [V P ] I was happy enough to laze about on the beach.
lazy /le I zi/ (lazier , laziest )
1 ADJ If someone is lazy , they do not want to work or make any effort to do anything. □ Lazy and incompetent police officers are letting the public down. □ [+ to-inf] I was too lazy to learn how to read music. ● la|zi|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ Current employment laws will be changed to reward effort and punish laziness.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] You can use lazy to describe an activity or event in which you are very relaxed and which you do or take part in without making much effort. □ Her latest novel is perfect for a lazy summer's afternoon reading. □ We would have a lazy lunch and then lie on the beach in the sun. ● la|zi|ly /le I z I li/ ADV [ADV with v] □ Liz went back into the kitchen, stretching lazily.
lb lb is a written abbreviation for pound , when it refers to weight. □ The baby was born three months early weighing only 3 lb 5 oz.