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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

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.

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lay up British  

verb

1. to store or reserve for future use

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

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lay up Idioms  

1. see laid up; lay in.

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Etymology

Origin of lay-up

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lay-up lay up

The success, clinched by Austin Reaves' lay-up with one second to go, saw the 39-year-old become the NBA's all-time leader in 25 December victories with his 11th in 19 appearances.

From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2024

The case presented to them is a lay-up.

From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2024

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

I tell him that just because your teammate gets fouled on a lay-up doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever drive to the lane again.

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander

A female screwworm fly can lay 200 to 300 eggs at a time and may lay up to 3,000 eggs during her 10 to 30-day lifespan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

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

Taylor two-putted for birdie from 40 feet on the 321-yard 17th hole and saved par on No. 18 after having to lay up from a fairway bunker.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 9, 2024

Doc lay up there with his rough, dark-skinned feet pointing at me while he folded and braided corn husks into the shape of a rose.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce