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Hand vs Lay - What's the difference?

hand | lay |

As a noun hand

is tail.

As a proper noun lay is

a river in western france.

hand

English

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Noun

(en noun)
  • The part of the fore limb below the forearm or wrist in a human, and the corresponding part in many other animals.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.}}
  • *'>citation
  • *:Using her hands like windshield wipers, she tried to flick snow away from her mouth. When she clawed at her chest and neck, the crumbs maddeningly slid back onto her face. She grew claustrophobic.
  • (lb) That which resembles, or to some extent performs the office of, a human hand.
  • #A limb of certain animals, as the foot of a hawk, or any one of the four extremities of a monkey.
  • #An index or pointer on a dial; such as the hour and minute hands on the face of an analog clock, which are used to indicate the time of day.
  • (lb) In linear measurement:
  • # Four inches, a hand's breadth.
  • #*
  • #*:Boxer was an enormous beast, nearly eighteen hands high, and as strong as any two ordinary horses put together.
  • #(lb) Three inches.
  • A side; part, camp; direction, either right or left.
  • *(w) 38:15:
  • *:On this hand' and that ' hand , were hangings.
  • *
  • *From a speech delivered by (Bertrand Russell) on accepting the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature:
  • *:I maintain, however, on the one hand', that there are few occasions upon which large bodies of men, such as politics is concerned with, can rise above selfishness, while, on the other ' hand , there are a very great many circumstances in which populations will fall below selfishness, if selfishness is interpreted as enlightened self-interest.
  • Power of performance; means of execution; ability; skill; dexterity.
  • *
  • *
  • *:The Bat—they called him the Bat.. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand , and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
  • An agent; a servant, or manual laborer, especially in compounds; a workman, trained or competent for special service or duty; a performer more or less skillful.
  • :
  • *
  • *
  • *{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.}}
  • An instance of helping.
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • Handwriting; style of penmanship.
  • :
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *'>citation
  • A person's signature.
  • :
  • Personal possession; ownership.
  • *
  • Management, domain, control.
  • :
  • *1611 , (King James Version of the Bible), 1:1
  • *:Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us
  • *
  • (lb) That which is, or may be, held in a hand at once.
  • # The set of cards held by a player.
  • #(lb) A bundle of tobacco leaves tied together.
  • #
  • Applause.
  • :
  • *2013 , Tom Shone, Oscar nominations pull a surprise by showing some taste – but will it last?'' (in ''The Guardian , 11 January 2013)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2013/jan/11/oscar-nominations-surprise-taste]
  • *:Also a big hand for Silver Linings Playbook, an exuberant modern screwball comedy we had, in an unseemly fit of cynicism, deemed "too entertaining" for Academy voters.
  • (lb) The small part of a gunstock near the lock, which is grasped by the hand in taking aim.
  • A whole rhizome of ginger.
  • The feel of a fabric; the impression or quality of the fabric as judged qualitatively by the sense of touch.
  • :
  • (lb) Actual performance; deed; act; workmanship; agency; hence, manner of performance.
  • *
  • *(w) 6.36:
  • *:Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand .
  • (lb) Agency in transmission from one person to another.
  • :
  • (lb) Rate; price.
  • *
  • Synonyms

    * (part of the arm below the wrist) manus (obsolete), paw (of some animals)

    Usage notes

    Hand is used figuratively for a large variety of acts or things, in the doing, or making, or use of which the hand is in some way employed or concerned; also, as a symbol to denote various qualities or conditions, as, : (a) Activity; operation; work; — in distinction from the head, which implies thought, and the heart, which implies affection. :: His hand will be against every man. — Genesis 16:12 : (b) Power; might; supremacy; — often in the Scriptures. :: With a mighty hand . . . will I rule over you. — Ezekiel 20:33 . : (c) Fraternal feeling; as, to give, or take, the hand'; to give the right ' hand : (d) Contract; — commonly of marriage; as, to ask the hand ; to pledge the hand.

    Meronyms

    * (part of the fore limb below the forearm) index finger, middle finger, palm, pinky, ring finger, thumb

    Derived terms

    * all hands * at hand * backhand, backhanded * back of one's hand * bite the hand that feeds one * by hand * change hands * China Hand * close at hand * * dead man's hand * deckhand * dishpan hands * Dutch hand * empty-handed * farmhand * fill one's hand * first hand * force somebody's hand * glad hand * handbag * hand ball or handball * hand basket * handbreadth * handful * hand gear * hand grenade * handgun * hand in glove * hand in hand * handicraft * handiwork * handjob * handle * handly * handmade * handmill * hand over fist * hand over hand * hand press * handrail * handsaw * hands off * hands down * hands on * hands up * hand to hand * hand to mouth, hand-to-mouth * handwork * handy * hat in hand * have a hand in * have blood on one's hands * have one's hands full * heavy-handed * hired hand * hour hand * idle hands are the devil's workshop * in good hands * in hand * laying on of hands * left-handed * lend a hand * live from hand to mouth * minute hand * off-hand * old hand * on hand * on the one hand * on the other hand * out of hand * out of someone's hands * overhand * play into someone's hands * play the hand one is dealt * put one's hands together * putty in someone's hands * ranchhand * red-handed * right-handed * second hand, second-hand * shake hands * show of hands * stablehand * stagehand * take in hand * the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world * tie someone's hands * tip one's hand * try one's hand at * underhand * underhanded * wash one's hands of

    See also

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To give, pass, or transmit with the hand, literally or figuratively.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.}}
  • To lead, guide, or assist with the hand; to conduct.
  • (obsolete) To manage.
  • *
  • (obsolete) To seize; to lay hands on.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (rare) To pledge by the hand; to handfast.
  • (transitive, nautical, said of a sail) To furl.
  • (Totten)
  • (obsolete) To cooperate.
  • Derived terms

    * hand down * hand in * hand off * hand out * hand over

    References

    *

    Statistics

    *

    lay

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) layen, leggen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • (label) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
  • to lay''' a book on the table;   to '''lay a body in the grave
    A shower of rain lays the dust.
  • * Bible, (w) vi. 17
  • A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
  • * 1735 , author unknown, The New-England Primer'', as reported by Fred R. Shapiro in ''The Yale Book of Quotations (2006), Yale University Press, pages 549–550:
  • Now I lay me down to sleep, / I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. / If I should die before I ’wake, / I pray the Lord my Soul to take.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him.}}
  • *
  • *:An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
  • :: A corresponding intransitive version of this word is .
  • To cause to subside or abate.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.viii:
  • The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd , they fiercely then begin to shoure
  • * 1662 , , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems , Dialogue 2:
  • But how upon the winds being laid , doth the ship cease to move?
  • (label) To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).
  • * 2006 , (Clive James), North Face of Soho , Picador 2007, p. 48:
  • Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
  • (label) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
  • lay''' brick;  '''lay flooring
  • (label) To produce and deposit an egg.
  • (label) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
  • I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
  • (label) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.
  • To have sex with.
  • * 1944 , (Raymond Chandler), The Lady in the Lake , Penguin 2011, p. 11:
  • ‘It's because he's a no-good son of a bitch who thinks it is smart to lay his friends' wives and brag about it.’
  • (label) To take a position; to come or go.
  • to lay''' forward;  to '''lay aloft
  • (label) To state; to allege.
  • to lay the venue
    (Bouvier)
  • (label) To point; to aim.
  • to lay a gun
  • (label) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
  • to lay a cable or rope
  • (label) To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.
  • (label) To place (new type) properly in the cases.
  • To apply; to put.
  • * Bible, (w) xxxi. 19
  • She layeth her hands to the spindle.
  • To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
  • to lay a tax on land
  • * Bible, (w) liii. 6
  • The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
  • To impute; to charge; to allege.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiv. 12
  • God layeth not folly to them.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Lay the fault on us.
  • To present or offer.
  • to lay''' an indictment in a particular county;   to '''lay a scheme before one
    (Webster 1913)
    Derived terms
    * lay a finger on * lay a foundation * lay an egg * lay about * lay away * lay bare * lay-by/lay by * lay claim * lay down * lay hands on * lay-in * laying on of hands * lay into * lay low * layoff * lay on the line * lay on the table * lay out * lay siege * lay the groundwork * lay to rest * lay up * lay waste * get laid

    References

    *

    Etymology 2

    From the verb.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Arrangement or relationship; layout.
  • the lay of the land
  • A share of the profits in a business.
  • * 1851 ,
  • I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits called lays', and that these ' lays were proportioned to the degree of importance pertaining to the respective duties of the ship’s company.
  • The direction a rope is twisted.
  • Worm and parcel with the lay ; turn and serve the other way.
  • (colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
  • * 1996 , JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts , MIRA (1996), ISBN 9780778315254, page 166:
  • Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay .
  • * 2000 , R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake , MIRA (2000), ISBN 1551666251, page 288:
  • To find a place like that and be discreet about it, Jones figured he needed help, so he went to see his favorite lay , Juan Carillo's woman, Carmen.
  • * 2011 , Kelly Meding, Trance , Pocket Books (2011), ISBN 9781451620924, pages 205-206:
  • “Because I don't want William to be just another lay . I did the slut thing, T, and it got me into a lot of trouble years ago.
    What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?
  • (colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * 1993 , David Halberstam, The Fifties , Open Road Integrated Media (2012), ISBN 9781453286074, unnumbered page:
  • Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay .”
  • * 2009 , Fern Michaels, The Scoop , Kensington Books (2009), ISBN 9780758227188, pages 212-213:
  • She didn't become this germ freak until Thomas died. I wonder if she just needs a good lay , you know, an all-nighter?" Toots said thoughtfully.
  • * 2011 , Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make , Kimani Press (2011), ISBN 9780373861996, unnumbered page:
  • “What she needs is a good lay . If she had someone to rock her world on a regular basis, she wouldn't be such a raging bit—”
  • (slang, archaic) A plan; a scheme.
  • (Charles Dickens)
    Synonyms
    * (casual sexual partner) see also .
    Derived terms
    * lay of the land

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) laie, lawe, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lake.
  • Etymology 4

    From (etyl)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1960 , author= , title=(Jeeves in the Offing) , section=chapter VII , passage=He hasn't caught a mouse since he was a slip of a kitten. Except when eating, he does nothing but sleep. [...] It's a sort of disease. There's a scientific name for it. Trau- something. Traumatic symplegia, that's it. This cat has traumatic symplegia. In other words, putting it in simple language adapted to the lay mind, where other cats are content to get their eight hours, Augustus wants his twenty-four.}}
  • Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.
  • They seemed more lay than clerical.
    a lay''' preacher; a '''lay brother
  • (obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
  • Etymology 5

    : See lie

    Verb

    (head)
  • (lie) when pertaining to position.
  • The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
  • (proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).
  • * 1969' July, Bob Dylan, “'''Lay''' Lady '''Lay ”, ''Nashville Skyline , Columbia:
  • Lay', lady, '''lay'''. / ' Lay across my big brass bed.
  • * a.'' 1970 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, ''Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:
  • Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go
  • * 1974 , John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again , RCA:
  • Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.
    Derived terms
    * layabout

    Etymology 6

    From (etyl) lay, from (etyl) . See lake.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
  • 1805' ''The '''Lay of the Last Minstrel , Sir Walter Scott.
    Derived terms
    * layoff

    Etymology 7

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A meadow; a lea.
  • (Dryden)

    Etymology 8

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A law.
  • * Spenser
  • many goodly lays
  • (obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
  • * Holland
  • They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.

    Etymology 9

    .

    Verb

  • To don (put on) (tefillin (gloss)).
  • Statistics

    *