lay for

Idioms  

1. Be waiting to attack; also, lie in wait for, as in The gang members were laying for him in that dark alley, or The reporters were laying for the Vice President when he came out of the meeting. [Late 1400s]

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Example Sentences

So the film set pub lay for a year-and-a-half in a yard on Achill Island - and when Luke offered to buy it from his brother-in-law, he was told he could have it for nothing.

From BBC • Jul. 7, 2023

As Morantz lay for six days in a hospital bed recovering from the rattlesnake bite, police and reporters began to put the pieces together.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2022

The outpouring of sadness triggered by Elizabeth's death has already drawn large crowds in Scotland, where she lay for 24 hours in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

From Reuters • Sep. 14, 2022

Last week, a body lay for hours in a Bangkok street, incurring the wrath of an embarrassed prime minister.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 25, 2021

Chamberlain rolled over onto his back and lay for awhile longer, hands clasped on his chest, gazing at the sky, trying to see the balls as they passed.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Related Words

• embroil
• ensnare
• entangle
• entrap
• implicate
• snare