lay over
Britishverb
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(tr) to postpone for future action
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(intr) to make a temporary stop in a journey
noun
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Postpone, as in This issue will have to be laid over until our next meeting . [Late 1800s]
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Make a stop in the course of a journey, as in They had to lay over for two days in New Delhi until the next flight to Katmandu . This sense gave rise to the noun lay-over for such a stopover. [Late 1800s]
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.
He’s distracted when he decides to race a comet: “We roared and thundered along side by side, both doing our level best, because I’d never struck a comet before that could lay over me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
“We didn’t come out here to lay over, we came out here to win and play to the last snap.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2024
Fly back on Monday, lay over again in Las Vegas, this time for 10 hours, arrive home Tuesday morning — $335 round trip.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
His bicycle lay over his legs, she added.
From Reuters ● May 25, 2022
The sun streamed in from the windows behind him, and shadows lay over his face and accentuated the lines of his cheeks and jaw.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
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.
