lay in
Britishverb
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.
“Perhaps its real significance lay in the fact that it was the first of many historic occasion in which the United States would undertake to project her military power far beyond her own borders.”
From Salon • Jul. 4, 2026
According to Boettcher, Abdulmohsen's motive lay in a conflict with a Cologne-based refugee organisation against which he had lost a civil suit.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
While Olivia North, 21, lay in a coma, her family were making plans to meet her from the plane on her return to the UK.
From BBC • Jun. 3, 2026
Midway through the game, Brown settled on a strategy whose genius lay in its simplicity.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
I lay in bed that night thinking that I ought to get a job after school.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
![]()
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.