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Slays vs Lays - What's the difference?

slays | lays |

As verbs the difference between slays and lays

is that slays is third-person singular of slay while lays is third-person singular of lay.

As a noun lays is

plural of lang=en.

slays

English

Verb

(head)
  • (slay)
  • Anagrams

    * *

    slay

    English

    Verb

  • To kill, murder.
  • The knight slew the dragon.
    Our foes must all be slain .
  • (literary) To eradicate or stamp out.
  • You must slay these thoughts.
  • (by extension, colloquial) To defeat, overcome.
  • * 1956', “Giants '''Slay Bears in Pro Title Battle”, in ''Lodi News-Sentinel , 1956 December 31, page 8.
  • * 1985', “Redskins '''slay Giants; Thiesmann shatters leg”, in ''The Gadsden Times , 1985 November 19, page D1-5.
  • * 1993 , Jack Curry, “ Yanks’ Bullpen Falls Short Again”, in The New York Times , 1993 April 21:
  • The Yankees were actually slayed by two former Yankees because Rich Gossage pitched one scoreless inning in relief of Eckersley to notch his first victory.
  • (slang) To delight or overwhelm, especially with laughter.
  • Ha ha! You slay me!
    Usage notes
    * The alternative past tense and past participle form "slayed" is most strongly associated with the slang sense, "to delight or overwhelm": *: {{quote-book, i2=*::, 1929, Harry Charles Witwer, Yes Man's Land citation , passage="Cutey, you slayed me !" grins Jackie, working fast. "I guess that's what made the rest of 'em look so bad — you was so good!"}} * In recent use, "slayed" is also often found associated with the other senses as well. However, this is widely considered nonstandard."But slayed cannot be considered established in such use. Whether it eventually becomes established remains to be seen." — '>citation * A review of US usage 2000-2009 in COCA suggests that "slayed" is increasing in popularity, but remains less common than "slew". It is very rare in UK usage (BNC).

    Synonyms

    * kill, murder, assassinate * conquer, defeat, overcome * (to overwhelm or delight) kill, hit it out of the park

    Derived terms

    * slayer

    References

    Anagrams

    *

    lays

    English

    Noun

    (head)
  • Verb

    (head)
  • (lay)
  • Anagrams

    * slay