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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
Synonyms

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.


lay up British  

verb

  1. to store or reserve for future use

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

lay up Idioms  
  1. see laid up; lay in.


Etymology

Origin of lay-up

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

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.

See Examples For:

The case presented to them is a lay-up.

From Salon Feb. 14, 2024

With 6.7 seconds left, Johnson timed his leap perfectly to block a lay-up from Donovan Mitchell, who scored 28 points.

From BBC Dec. 13, 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

Felix grabbed a rebound, put it back up for an easy lay-up, and then passed the ball back to Benji.

From "Millionaires for the Month" by Stacey McAnulty

The damage is caused when the female starts laying her eggs: she will cut into the branches of small trees and shrubs to lay up to 600 eggs inside the bark.

From Salon May 16, 2024

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

Female bedbugs can deposit one to five eggs a day and may lay up to 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 20, 2024

Taylor, the overnight leader, saved par on No. 18 after being forced to lay up and shot 68.

From Seattle Times Feb. 11, 2024

Round the other side of the conker tree, I looked at what lay up the bridle path.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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