Lay vs Play - What's the difference?
lay | play |
(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)).
(lb) To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
:
*2001 , Annabelle Sabloff, Reordering the Natural World , Univ. of Toronto Press, p.83:
*:A youngstergo on vacation, play in the same way that he did with his friends, and so on.
*2003 , Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont et al. (eds.), Joining Society: Social Interaction and Learning in Adolescence and Youth , Cambridge Univ. Press, p.52:
*:We had to play for an hour, so that meant that we didn't have time to play and joke around.
(lb) To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).
:
#(lb) To compete against, in a game.
#*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 12, work=BBC Sport
, title= (label) To take part in amorous activity; to make love, fornicate; to have sex.
*1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.iv:
*:Her proper face / I not descerned in that darkesome shade, / But weend it was my loue, with whom he playd .
(lb) To act as the indicated role, especially in a performance.
:
*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= To produce music or theatre.
# To produce music.
#*2007 , Dan Erlewine, Guitar Player Repair Guide (ISBN 0879309210), page 220:
#*:If your guitar plays well on fretted strings but annoys you on the open ones, the nut's probably worn out.
# To produce music using a musical instrument.
#:
# To produce music (or a specified song or musical style) using (a specified musical instrument).
#:
# To use a device to watch or listen to the indicated recording.
#:
# to be shown.
#:
# To perform in or at; to give performances in or at.
#*2008 , My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown (ISBN 0966412087), p.30:
#*:I got a hold of Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong's agent and I explained to him on the phone that, "I know you're playing' London on Wednesday night. Why don't you come and ' play the Arena in Windsor on Saturday night?"
#(lb) To act or perform (a play).
#:
(lb) To behave in a particular way.
#(lb) Contrary to fact, to give an appearance of being.
#*(rfdate) Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
#*:Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.
#*1985 , Sharon S. Brehm, Intimate Relationships :
#*:Playing hard to get is not the same as slamming the door in someone's face.
#*1996 , Michael P. Malone, James J Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest :
#*:Now, surveying his final link, he had the nice advantage of being able to play coy with established port cities that desperately wanted his proven railroad.
#*2003 , John U. Ogbu, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement , p.194:
#*:Instead, they played dumb, remained silent, and did their classwork.
#(lb) To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
#*(rfdate) Sir (1628–1699):
#*:Men are apt to play with their healths.
#(lb) To act; to behave; to practice deception.
#*(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616):
#*:His mother played false with a smith.
#(lb) To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute.
#:
#*(rfdate) (John Milton) (1608-1674):
#*:Nature here / Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will / Her virgin fancies.
#*
#*: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.
(lb) To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate.
:
*(rfdate) (1671-1743):
*:The heart beats, the blood circulates, the lungs play .
*
*:The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
(lb) To move gaily; to disport.
*(rfdate) (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616):
*:even as the waving sedges play with wind
*(rfdate) (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719):
*:The setting sun / Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.
*(rfdate) (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744):
*:All fame is foreign but of true desert, / Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.
(lb) To put in action or motion.
:
(lb) To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.
Activity for amusement only, especially among the young.
* Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
(uncountable) Similar activity, in young animals, as they explore their environment and learn new skills.
(uncountable, ethology) "Repeated, incompletely functional behavior differing from more serious versions ..., and initiated voluntarily when ... in a low-stress setting."
The conduct, or course of a game.
(countable) An individual's performance in a sport or game.
(countable) (turn-based games ) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.
(countable) A literary composition, intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.
(countable) A theatrical performance featuring actors.
(countable) A major move by a business.
(countable) A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.
(uncountable) The extent to which a part of a mechanism can move freely.
(uncountable, informal) Sexual role-playing.
* 1996 , Sabrina P Ramet, Gender reversals and gender cultures
* 1996 , "toptigger", (on Internet newsgroup alt.personals.spanking.punishment )
* 2013 , Rachel Kramer Bussel, Best Bondage Erotica 2014
* 2014 , Jiri T. Servant, Facts About Bondage - Bondage Guide For Beginners
(countable) A button that, when pressed, causes media to be played.
As a proper noun lay
is a river in western france.As a verb play is
(lb) to act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.As a noun play is
activity for amusement only, especially among the young.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
*play
English
Verb
(en verb)International friendly: England 1-0 Spain, passage=England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.}}
Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
Noun
- She was fond of all boys' plays , and greatly preferred cricket
- We saw a two-act play in the theatre.
- No wonder the fanbelt is slipping: there’s too much play in it.
- Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.
- The rarity of male domination in fantasy play is readily explained.
- Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play
- There were none of the usual restrictions on public nudity or sexual interaction in the club environment. Still, the night was young, and as he'd made his way to the bar to order Mistress Ramona a gin and tonic, he'd seen little in the way of play .
- This type of play allows some people to relax and enjoy being given pleasure without having to think about giving pleasure back at the same time.