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.
Macron is "very eager" to see the tapestry displayed "in optimal conditions", laid out flat at full length on a table, the French presidential official said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
The company laid off about 1,000 employees, representing about 16% of its full-time staff, a few weeks later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Bouchier added 143 for the first wicket with Sophia Dunkley, who made 73, which laid the perfect platform before the centurion holed out to long-on with just 59 runs needed.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Instead of being laid out spatially, its wiring works more like a bar code, with distributed patterns of activity representing particular smells or complex memories.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026
Father’s hair and beard were now as white as the best tablecloth Betsie had laid for this special day.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
