laid
Americanverb
verb
Other Word Forms
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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.
“Big Market Break Is Laid to ‘Wolf,’ ” the Atlanta Constitution wrote on Oct.
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
Laid on the comforter, he rolled on his back and pumped his little legs with glee like he was swimming.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026
Laid out more plainly: in the snack bar category, four companies – General Mills, Kellogg, Simply Good Foods and Mars – made 66.4% of the snack bars stocked on shelves, per 2021 data.
From Salon • Sep. 12, 2024
The Freedom Singers would document the group’s ambitions and struggles in song, like on the stirring track “They Laid Medgar Evers in His Grave.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 19, 2024
Laid out before the robot was a glorious northern seascape.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
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.
