laid up

Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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 .

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Example Sentences

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

The image of her laid up in the hospital, looking ready for her close-up in full makeup with one black rose on the pillow beside her, looks like a staged photo for a fashion magazine.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2024

The ship missed the summer season laid up in Troon, Ayr, Greenock and Birkenhead for repairs - but problems with its variable pitch propellers persisted.

From BBC • Oct. 13, 2023

He added that if her old Grandpa Lázaro was still talking in full sentences instead of laid up from that stroke he’d had, he would’ve wanted her to do it too.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older