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layabout
[ ley-uh-bout ]
/ ˈleɪ əˌbaʊt /
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noun Chiefly British.
a lazy or idle person; loafer.
QUIZ
ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?
We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.
Question 1 of 8
Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?
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Origin of layabout
1930–35; noun use of verb phrase lay about, nonstandard variant of lie about
Words nearby layabout
laxation, laxative, laxity, Laxness, lay, layabout, lay about one, lay a finger on, Layamon, lay analyst, lay an egg
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use layabout in a sentence
They’re just rich layabouts concocting the perfect crime, something everybody does.
British Dictionary definitions for layabout
layabout
/ (ˈleɪəˌbaʊt) /
noun
a lazy person; loafer
verb lay about
(preposition, usually intr or reflexive) old-fashioned to hit out with violent and repeated blows in all directions
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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