laid
Americanverb
verb
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How does laid compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Laid means "set down." If you built a brick wall, and then when it's done your neighbor complains that the wall crosses onto his property, tell him, "too late! The brick has already been laid." Laid is the past participle of the verb, lay, which means set down. So something that has been laid has already been set down. You might scramble up the eggs the chickens laid yesterday. Before your guests come over, your table should have been laid. Or you might examine the foundations that the builder laid down for the house you're building. We often use laid if we want to emphasize how carefully something has been done.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to this view, the entire history of the universe is already laid out, timelessly, in the structure of space-time.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
After match point, he laid flat on his back on the court and immediately burst into tears.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
By plans laid ahead of time, most caravan vehicles detoured around the party while select caravan cars followed a police escort through the action.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026
Roughly 117,000 workers have been laid off so far this year at 164 tech companies, according to Layoffs.fyi, while close to 125,000 employees at 275 companies lost their jobs in 2025.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
Mom walked across the room and laid the envelope on his desk, beside his social studies book.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
