laid up
Idioms-
Also, sick in bed . Ill and confined to bed, as in I was laid up for a week with the flu , or Sally can't come outside; she's sick in bed . [Mid-1500s]
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Put in a safe place, as in The ship was laid up in dock with engine trouble , or The hikers were laid up in a cave during the storm . [Mid-1600s] Also see under lay in ; lay someone low .
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.
While I was laid up, I spent time reading on social media about former colleagues who were publicizing new books, speaking at conferences and otherwise staying in the limelight—and I felt envious.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
"If any of those people are struggling and need accommodation, we have got hire boats that are laid up for the winter."
From BBC • Dec. 24, 2025
Insurance companies don’t pay primary-care doctors to see patients in hospital; doctors might not know if a patient is laid up with a broken hip or beginning cancer treatment.
From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025
The reason that it matters that many of us will be laid up with the regular old seasonal flu is something called co-infection.
From Slate • Dec. 31, 2024
"That's not what we hear. The vet says you'll be laid up for six weeks, maybe longer."
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
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.
