layout

American  

[lay-aut] / ˈleɪˌaʊt /

noun

• layouts
  plural

1. an arrangement or plan.

   We objected to the layout of the house.

2. the act of laying or spreading out.

3. a plan or sketch, as of an advertisement or a page of a newspaper or magazine, indicating the arrangement and relationship of the parts, as of type and artwork.

4. (in advertising, publishing, etc.) the technique, process, or occupation of making layouts.

5. Journalism. spread.

6. Informal. a place, as of residence or business, and the features that go with it; a setup.

   a fancy layout with a swimming pool and a tennis court.

7. Informal. a display or spread, as of dishes at a meal.

8. a collection or set of tools, implements, or the like.

9. Cards. an arrangement of cards dealt according to a given pattern, as in solitaire.

10. Diving, Gymnastics. a body position in which one is fully extended and arched backward, with the legs together and straight, the head thrown back, and the arms extended sideways.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• layouts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of layout

1840–50, noun use of verb phrase lay out

Explanation

A layout is a plan or design, like the odd layout of your friend's house, where you have to walk through two bedrooms to get to the bathroom. Anything that's planned on paper and then constructed in three dimensions has a layout, including houses, buildings, cities, parks, and gardens. Newspapers, magazines, and websites have layouts too: the way words and images are organized together on the page. The verb came first, from the sense of laying out or arranging the letters of a manuscript before printing them.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

layout layouts

Godin said that the outposts take several months to build and follow a similar rectangular layout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Built in 1958, the 10,000-square-foot layout includes five bedrooms and six baths.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 2026

"The design has been developed to minimise visual impact through building materials, landscaping and layout."

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Changes to the Park Lane road layout 80 years later left it inaccessible, leading it to become isolated, neglected and dirty.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

She didn’t know the layout of the temple outside of what Ekon had told her: The hallways and doors leading into darker passageways seemed endless.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

LA28 said more tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for every sport next year as organizers refine venue layouts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

New York City’s legal cannabis retailers are vying to differentiate themselves with high-concept store designs, using art-gallery layouts, Instagram-friendly installations and social-justice messaging to stand out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

"The layouts and the proportions and views really came directly from the architecture rather than from how we generally would start planning a building from the ground up."

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

Their architecture, road layouts, transportation systems and other infrastructure were designed for weather conditions that are becoming a thing of the past.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

A public that had grown up with news illustrations and hazy photo layouts was now treated to breathtaking action shots facilitated by vastly improved photographic equipment.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• blueprint
• chart
• design
• geography
• map