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• lay-up
  lay-up

  noun

  a shot with one hand from a point close to the basket, in which a player shoots the ball toward the basket, often off the backboard.
• lay up
  lay up

  verb

  to store or reserve for future use

lay-up

American  

[ley-uhp] / ˈleɪˌʌp /

Or layup

noun

1. Basketball. a shot with one hand from a point close to the basket, in which a player shoots the ball toward the basket, often off the backboard.

2. the operation of assembling veneers for pressing into plywood.

3. the operation of applying alternate layers of material and a binder to form a bonded material.

4. lay.

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lay up British  

verb

1. to store or reserve for future use

2. informal (usually passive) to incapacitate or confine through illness

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lay up Idioms  

1. see laid up; lay in.

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Etymology

Origin of lay-up

First recorded in 1940–45; noun use of verb phrase lay up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lay-up lay up

The case presented to them is a lay-up.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2024

But Grizzlies guard Ja Morant could not convert a contested lay-up at the buzzer as the Warriors held on.

From BBC ● May 1, 2022

You’re playing hoops in the driveway and go up for a lay-up.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2022

Saint Peter’s had a sweet alley-oop toward the end of the half and Jaylen Murray finished the half with a buzzer-beating lay-up to possibly give the team some momentum going into the break.

From Fox News ● Mar. 25, 2022

I tell him that just because your teammate gets fouled on a lay-up doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever drive to the lane again.

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander

A female screwworm fly can lay 200 to 300 eggs at a time and may lay up to 3,000 eggs during her 10 to 30-day lifespan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

Female stink bugs can lay up to 400 eggs, which become adults a little more than a month after hatching.

From NewsForKids.net ● Apr. 15, 2024

Korda, tied for the lead, decided when she reached the tee to lay up with a 7-wood instead of trying to drive the green.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2024

A three-year-old colony can hold as many as 100,000 fire ants and a mature queen can lay up to 5,000 eggs per day.

From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2024

The female is bigger than the male and may lay up to one hundred eggs at a time.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling