lay figure

American  

noun

1. a jointed model of the human body, usually of wood, from which artists work in the absence of a living model.

2. a similar figure used in shops to display costumes.

3. a person of no importance, individuality, distinction, etc.; nonentity.

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lay figure British  

noun

1. an artist's jointed dummy, used in place of a live model, esp for studying effects of drapery

2. a person considered to be subservient or unimportant

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Etymology

Origin of lay figure

1785–95; lay, extracted from obsolete layman < Dutch leeman, variant of ledenman, equivalent to leden- (combining form of lid limb, cognate with Old English, Middle English lith ) + man man )

Example Sentences

The lay figure or type is one all through.

From The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets by Westbrook, Richard B.

Jenny compared it with the lay figure in the studio and smiled, thinking how funny they would look together.

From Carnival by MacKenzie, Compton

The lay figure to support the drapery suffices for the artist, the Venus herself is in his brain.

From A Day's Ride A Life's Romance by Lever, Charles James

The woman is only a lay figure whom we invest with the vague splendours of our snobbish and inexperienced imagination.

From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by McFee, William

So I had to treat him like a lay figure and liberate each limb and rub it until the circulation was restored.

From Forty Years of 'Spy' by Ward, Leslie