Lay vs Lead - What's the difference?
lay | lead |
(label) To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.
* Bible, (w) vi. 17
* 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:
*
, 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:
* 1662 , , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems , Dialogue 2:
(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:
(label) To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.
(label) To produce and deposit an egg.
(label) To bet (that something is or is not the case).
(label) To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
To have sex with.
* 1944 , (Raymond Chandler), The Lady in the Lake , Penguin 2011, p. 11:
(label) To take a position; to come or go.
(label) To state; to allege.
(label) To point; to aim.
(label) To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.
(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
To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).
* Bible, (w) liii. 6
To impute; to charge; to allege.
* Bible, (w) xxiv. 12
* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
To present or offer.
Arrangement or relationship; layout.
A share of the profits in a business.
* 1851 ,
The direction a rope is twisted.
(colloquial) A casual sexual partner.
* 1996 , JoAnn Ross, Southern Comforts , MIRA (1996), ISBN 9780778315254,
* 2000 , R. J. Kaiser, Fruitcake , MIRA (2000), ISBN 1551666251,
* 2011 , Kelly Meding, Trance , Pocket Books (2011), ISBN 9781451620924,
(colloquial) An act of sexual intercourse.
* 1993 , David Halberstam, The Fifties , Open Road Integrated Media (2012), ISBN 9781453286074,
* 2009 , Fern Michaels, The Scoop , Kensington Books (2009), ISBN 9780758227188,
* 2011 , Pamela Yaye, Promises We Make , Kimani Press (2011), ISBN 9780373861996,
(slang, archaic) A plan; a scheme.
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.
(obsolete) Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.
(lie) when pertaining to position.
(proscribed) To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).
* 1969' July, Bob Dylan, “'''Lay''' Lady '''Lay ”, ''Nashville Skyline , Columbia:
* a.'' 1970 , Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, ''Bridge over Troubled Water , Columbia Records:
* 1974 , John Denver, “Annie’s Song”, Back Home Again , RCA:
A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.
(obsolete) A law.
* Spenser
(obsolete) An obligation; a vow.
* Holland
To don (put on) (tefillin (gloss)).
(uncountable) A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum ).
(countable) A plummet or mass of lead attached to a line, used in sounding depth at sea or (dated) to estimate velocity in knots.
A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
(uncountable, typography) Vertical space in advance of a row or between rows of text. Also known as leading .
Sheets or plates of lead used as a covering for roofs.
A roof covered with lead sheets or terne plates.
:* I would have the tower two stories, and goodly leads upon the top. —
(countable) A thin cylinder of black lead or plumbago (graphite) used in pencils.
(slang) Bullets; ammunition.
To cover, fill, or affect with lead; as, continuous firing leads the grooves of a rifle.
(printing) To place leads between the lines of; as, to lead a page; leaded matter.
To .
#To guide or conduct with the hand, or by means of some physical contact connection.
#:
#*(John Wycliffe) on
#*:If a blind man lead a blind man, both fall down in the ditch.
#*
#*:They thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill.
#*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
#*:In thy right hand lead with thee / The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.
#To guide or conduct in a certain course, or to a certain place or end, by making the way known; to show the way, especially by going with or going in advance of, to lead a pupil; to guide somebody somewhere or to bring somebody somewhere by means of.instructions. Hence, figuratively: To direct; to counsel; to instruct; as, to lead a traveler.
#*
#*:The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way.
#*
#*:He leadeth me beside the still waters.
#*(John Milton) (1608-1674)
#*:This thought might lead me through the world’s vain mask. Content, though blind, had I no better guide.
#*, chapter=1
, title= #To conduct or direct with authority; to have direction or charge of; as, to lead an army, an exploring party, or a search; to lead a political party; to command, especially a military or business unit.
#*(Robert South) (1634–1716)
#*:Christ took not upon him flesh and blood that he might conquer and rule nations, lead armies, or possess places.
#To guide or conduct oneself in, through, or along (a certain course); hence, to proceed in the way of; to follow the path or course of; to pass; to spend. Also, to cause (one) to proceed or follow in (a certain course).
#:
#*
#*:That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life.
#*1849 , (Alfred Tennyson),
#*:Nor thou with shadow'd hint confuse / A life that leads melodious days.
#*1849-50 , (Charles Dickens), ''(David Copperfield), Chapter 61
#*:You rememberthe life he used to lead his wife and daughter.
(label) To guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief; — used in most of the senses of the transitive verb.
(label) To begin, to be ahead.
#(label) To go or to be in advance of; to precede; hence, to be foremost or chief among.
#:
#*1600 , (Edward Fairfax), The (Jerusalem Delivered) of (w)
#*:As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way.
#*(Leigh Hunt) (1784-1859)
#*:And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.
#*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=“Well,” I answered, at first with uncertainty, then with inspiration, “he would do splendidly to lead your cotillon, if you think of having one.” ¶ “So you do not dance, Mr. Crocker?” ¶ I was somewhat set back by her perspicuity.}}
#(label) To lead off or out, to go first; to begin.
#(label) To be more advanced in technology or business than others.
#
## To begin a game, round, or trick, with; as, to lead trumps.
##:
##(label) To be ahead of others, e.g., in a race.
##(label) To have the highest interim score in a game.
##(label) To step off base and move towards the next base.
##:
##(label) To aim in front of a moving target, in order that the shot may hit the target as it passes.
(label) To draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure; as, to lead one to espouse a righteous cause.
*1649 , King (Charles I of England), (Eikon Basilike)
*:He was driven by the necessities of the times, more than led by his own disposition, to any rigor of actions.
* .
*:Silly women, laden with sins, led away by divers lusts.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-28, author=(Joris Luyendijk)
, volume=189, issue=3, page=21, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= (label) To tend or reach in a certain direction, or to a certain place.
:
*ca. 1590 , (w),
*:The mountain-foot that leads towards Mantua.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To produce.
:
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title=
(uncountable) The act of leading or conducting; guidance; direction, course; as, to take the lead; to be under the lead of another.
:* At the time I speak of, and having a momentary lead , . . . I am sure I did my country important service. — (Edmund Burke)
(uncountable) Precedence; advance position; also, the measure of precedence; as, the white horse had the lead; a lead of a boat’s length, or of half a second; the state of being ahead in a race; the highest score in a game in an incomplete game.
* {{quote-news
, year=2010
, date=December 28
, author=Kevin Darlin
, title=West Brom 1 - 3 Blackburn
, work=BBC
(countable) a metallic wire for electrical devices and equipments
(baseball) When a runner steps away from a base while waiting for the pitch to be thrown
(uncountable, card games, dominoes) The act or right of playing first in a game or round; the card suit, or piece, so played; as, your partner has the lead.
(countable) A channel of open water in an ice field.
(countable, mining) A lode.
(nautical) The course of a rope from end to end.
A rope, leather strap, or similar device with which to lead an animal; a leash
In a steam engine, The width of port opening which is uncovered by the valve, for the admission or release of steam, at the instant when the piston is at end of its stroke.
* Usage note : When used alone it means outside lead, or lead for the admission of steam. Inside lead refers to the release or exhaust.
charging lead
(civil engineering) The distance of haul, as from a cutting to an embankment.
(horology) The action of a tooth, as a tooth of a wheel, in impelling another tooth or a pallet. — Claudias Saunier
Hypothesis that has not been pursued
Information obtained by a detective or police officer that allows him or her to discover further details about a crime or incident.
(marketing) Potential opportunity for a sale or transaction, a potential customer.
Information obtained by a news reporter about an issue or subject that allows him or her to discover more details.
(curling) The player who throws the first two rocks for a team.
(newspapers) A teaser; a lead in; the start of a newspaper column, telling who, what, when, where, why and how. (Sometimes spelled as lede for this usage to avoid ambiguity.)
An important news story that appears on the front page of a newspaper or at the beginning of a news broadcast
(engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.
(music) In a barbershop quartet, the person who sings the melody, usually the second tenor
(not comparable) Foremost.
In transitive terms the difference between lay and lead
is that lay is to deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk while lead is to draw or direct by influence, whether good or bad; to prevail on; to induce; to entice; to allure; as, to lead one to espouse a righteous cause.In nautical terms the difference between lay and lead
is that lay is to take a position; to come or go while lead is the course of a rope from end to end.As a proper noun Lay
is a river in western France.lay
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) layen, leggen, from (etyl) .Verb
- to lay''' a book on the table; to '''lay a body in the grave
- A shower of rain lays the dust.
- A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den.
- 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.
- The cloudes, as things affrayd, before him flye; / But all so soone as his outrageous powre / Is layd , they fiercely then begin to shoure
- But how upon the winds being laid , doth the ship cease to move?
- Even when I lay a long plan, it is never in the expectation that I will live to see it fulfilled.
- lay''' brick; '''lay flooring
- I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday.
- I dare lay mine honour / He will remain so.
- ‘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.’
- to lay''' forward; to '''lay aloft
- to lay the venue
- (Bouvier)
- to lay a gun
- to lay a cable or rope
- She layeth her hands to the spindle.
- to lay a tax on land
- The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- God layeth not folly to them.
- Lay the fault on us.
- to lay''' an indictment in a particular county; to '''lay a scheme before one
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 laidReferences
*Etymology 2
From the verb.Noun
(en noun)- the lay of the land
- 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.
- Worm and parcel with the lay ; turn and serve the other way.
page 166:
- Over the years she'd tried to tell himself that his uptown girl was just another lay .
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.
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?
unnumbered page:
- Listening to this dismissal of his work, [Tennessee] Williams thought to himself of Wilder, “This character has never had a good lay .”
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.
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—”
- (Charles Dickens)
Synonyms
* (casual sexual partner) see also .Derived terms
* lay of the landEtymology 3
From (etyl) laie, lawe, from (etyl) .Etymology 4
From (etyl)Adjective
(en adjective)- They seemed more lay than clerical.
- a lay''' preacher; a '''lay brother
Etymology 5
: See lieVerb
(head)- The baby lay in its crib and slept silently.
- Lay', lady, '''lay'''. / ' Lay across my big brass bed.
- Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters / Where the ragged people go
- Let me lay down beside you. / Let me always be with you.
Derived terms
* layaboutEtymology 6
From (etyl) lay, from (etyl) . See lake.Noun
(en noun)- 1805' ''The '''Lay of the Last Minstrel , Sir Walter Scott.
Derived terms
* layoffEtymology 7
Etymology 8
Noun
(en noun)- many goodly lays
- They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath.
Etymology 9
.Verb
Statistics
*lead
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) leed, from (etyl) . Alternative etymology suggests the possibility that Proto-Germanic *laud?'' may derive from (etyl) . More at (l).Noun
- This copy has too much lead; I prefer less space between the lines.
- They pumped him full of lead .
Derived terms
* arm the lead * acetate of lead * black lead * blue lead * cast the lead, heave the lead * chromate of lead * coasting lead * cold lead * deep-sea lead * eka-lead * go down like a lead balloon * hand lead * lap in lead * lay in lead * lead accumulator * lead acetate * lead-acid battery * lead-arming * lead arsenate * lead-ash, lead-ashes * lead-back * lead balloon * lead-bath * lead-blue * lead bronze * lead-brown * lead bullion * lead-burn * lead burning * lead carbonate * lead cell * lead chamber * lead chloride * lead colic * lead color, lead colour * lead-colored, lead-coloured * lead-comb * lead crystal * lead dichloride * lead dinitrate * lead dioxide * lead distemper * lead-eater * leaded * lead encephalopathy * lead-flat * lead-foot * lead-free * lead glance * lead glass * lead-glaze * lead-gray, lead-grey * lead hydrogen arsenate * lead in one's pencil * lead iodide * lead-light * lead-like * lead line * lead-man * lead-marcasite * lead mill * lead-nail * lead nitrate * lead ocher, lead ochre * lead oxide * lead paint * lead palsy * lead-paper * lead-papered * lead paralysis * lead pencil * lead plant * lead-plaster * lead peroxide * lead-pot * lead-poisoning * lead ratio * lead-reeve * lead selenide * lead-sinker * leadsman * lead-soap * lead-spar * lead-sugar * lead sulfide, lead sulphide * lead-swing * lead-swinger * lead-swinging * lead tetraethyl * lead tetroxide * lead-tin * lead-tree * lead vanadate * lead-vitriol * lead-wash * lead-water * lead wool * lead-work * lead-works * lead-wort * mock lead * pencil lead * red lead * red lead ore * sugar of lead * swing the lead * telluride of lead * tetraethyl lead * thorium lead * throw the lead * unleaded * uranium lead * uranium-lead dating * white leadVerb
(en verb)Usage notes
Note carefully these two senses are verbs derived from the noun referring to the metallic element, and are unrelated to the heteronym defined below under .See also
* anglesite * aplomb * cerussite * galena * litharge * plumb * plumb-, plumbo- * plumbagin * plumbago * plumballophane * plumbane * plumbary * plumbate * plumbator * plumb dulcis * plumbean * plumbeous * plumber * plumbian * plumbic * plumbicon * plumbiferous * plumbine * plumbing * plumbism * plumbisolvency * plumbisolvent * plumbite * plumb-joint * plumbless * plumbly * plumbous * plumby * plummet * TELExternal links
* (wikipedia "lead")Etymology 2
(Lead off) From (etyl) leden, from (etyl) .Verb
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
Our banks are out of control, passage=Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.}}
Can China clean up fast enough?, passage=All this has led to an explosion of protest across China, including among a middle class that has discovered nimbyism. That worries the government, which fears that environmental activism could become the foundation for more general political opposition. It is therefore dealing with pollution in two ways—suppression and mitigation.}}
Yesterday’s fuel, passage=The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
Derived terms
(terms derived from the verb "to lead") * belead * inlead * lead astray * lead captive * leader * leading * lead the way * mislead * offlead * onlead * outlead * overlead * take the lead * underleadNoun
citation, page= , passage=Blackburn then regained the lead with a simplest of set-piece goals}}
- The runner took his lead from first.
- The investigation stalled when all leads turned out to be dead ends.
- Joe is a great addition to our sales team, he has numerous leads in the paper industry.
Usage notes
Note that these noun (attributive) uses are all derived from the verb, not the chemical element in .Derived terms
(terms derived from the noun "lead") * bury the lead * lead angle * lead in * lead role * lead screw * take the leadAdjective
(-)- The contestants are all tied; no one has the lead position.