lie

¹

[ lahy ]

noun

1. a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth.

   Synonyms: prevarication

   Antonyms: truth

2. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture:

   His flashy car was a lie that deceived no one.

3. an inaccurate or untrue statement; falsehood:

   When I went to school, history books were full of lies, and I won't teach lies to kids.

4. the charge or accusation of telling a lie:

   He flung the lie back at his accusers.

verb (used without object)

, lied, ly·ing.

1. to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive.

   Synonyms: fib, prevaricate

2. to express what is false; convey a false impression.

verb (used with object)

, lied, ly·ing.

1. to bring about or affect by lying (often used reflexively):

   to lie oneself out of a difficulty; accustomed to lying his way out of difficulties.

lie

²

[ lahy ]

verb (used without object)

, lay, lain, ly·ing.

1. to be in a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground; recline.

   Antonyms: stand

2. (of objects) to rest in a horizontal or flat position:

   The book lies on the table.

3. to be or remain in a position or state of inactivity, subjection, restraint, concealment, etc.:

   to lie in ambush.

4. to rest, press, or weigh (usually followed by on or upon ):

   These things lie upon my mind.

5. to depend (usually followed by on or upon ).
6. to be placed or situated:

   land lying along the coast.

7. to be stretched out or extended:

   the broad plain that lies before us.

8. to be in or have a specified direction; extend:

   The trail from here lies to the west.

9. to be found or located in a particular area or place:

   The fault lies here.

10. to consist or be grounded (usually followed by in ):

    The real remedy lies in education.

11. to be buried in a particular spot:

    Their ancestors lie in the family plot.

12. Law. to be sustainable or admissible, as an action or appeal.
13. Archaic. to lodge; stay the night; sojourn.

noun

1. the manner, relative position, or direction in which something lies:

   the lie of the patio, facing the water.

   Synonyms: site, position, situation

2. the haunt or covert of an animal.
3. Golf. the position of the ball relative to how easy or how difficult it is to play.

verb phrase

1. 1. to be confined to bed in childbirth.
   2. Chiefly British. to stay in bed longer than usual, especially in the morning.
2. 1. to be the duty or function of:

      The decision in this matter lies with him.

   2. Archaic. to have sexual intercourse with.
3. 1. to lie at rest; stay in bed.
   2. (of a ship) to dock or remain in dock.
4. to be postponed for attention or action at some future time:

   The other business on the agenda will have to lie over until the next meeting.

5. to assume a horizontal or prostrate position, as for the purpose of resting.
6. 1. to pause for rest; stop activities, work, etc., temporarily.
   2. to lie unused:

      Ever since the last member of the family died, the old house has lain by.

Lie

³

[ lee ]

noun

1. Jonas, 1880–1940, U.S. painter, born in Norway.
2. (Ma·ri·us) So·phus [mah-, r, ee-, oo, s , soh, -f, oo, s], 1842–99, Norwegian mathematician.
3. Tryg·ve Halv·dan [trig, -v, uh, , hahlv, -dahn, tryg, -v, uh, , hahlv, -dahn], 1896–1968, Norwegian statesman: secretary-general of the United Nations 1946–53.

lie

¹

/ laɪ /

verb

1. often foll by down to place oneself or be in a prostrate position, horizontal to the ground
2. to be situated, esp on a horizontal surface

   the pencil is lying on the desk

   India lies to the south of Russia

3. to be buried

   here lies Jane Brown

4. copula to be and remain (in a particular state or condition)

   to lie dormant

5. to stretch or extend

   the city lies before us

6. usually foll byon or upon to rest or weigh

   my sins lie heavily on my mind

7. usually foll by in to exist or consist inherently

   strength lies in unity

8. foll by with
   1. to be or rest (with)

      the ultimate decision lies with you

   2. to have sexual intercourse (with)
9. (of an action, claim, appeal, etc) to subsist; be maintainable or admissible
10. archaic.
    to stay temporarily
11. lie in state
    See state
12. lie low
    1. to keep or be concealed or quiet
    2. to wait for a favourable opportunity

noun

1. the manner, place, or style in which something is situated
2. the hiding place or lair of an animal
3. golf
   1. the position of the ball after a shot

      a bad lie

   2. the angle made by the shaft of the club before the upswing
4. lie of the land
   1. the topography of the land
   2. the way in which a situation is developing or people are behaving

lie

²

/ laɪ /

verb

1. intr to speak untruthfully with intent to mislead or deceive
2. intr to convey a false impression or practise deception

   the camera does not lie

noun

1. an untrue or deceptive statement deliberately used to mislead
2. something that is deliberately intended to deceive
3. give the lie to
   1. to disprove
   2. to accuse of lying

Lie

³

/ liː /

noun

1. LieTrygve Halvdan18961968MNorwegianPOLITICS: statesman Trygve Halvdan (ˈtryɡvə ˈhalðan). 1896–1968, Norwegian statesman; first secretary-general of the United Nations (1946–52)

Usage

See lay 1

Confusables Note

See lay ¹.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lie¹

First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English leye, lighe; Old English lyge, lige; cognate with German Lüge, Old Norse lygi; akin to Gothic liugn; (verb) Middle English lien, ligen, leie, Old English lēogan (intransitive); cognate with German lügen, Old Norse ljūga, Gothic liugan

Origin of lie²

First recorded before 900; Middle English lien, liggen, Old English licgan; cognate with German liegen, Dutch liggen, Old Norse liggja, Gothic ligan; akin to Greek léchesthai “to lie down”

Word History and Origins

Origin of lie¹

Old English licgan akin to Old High German ligen to lie, Latin lectus bed

Origin of lie²

Old English lyge (n), lēogan (vb); related to Old High German liogan, Gothic liugan

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. give the lie to,
   1. to accuse of lying; contradict.
   2. to prove or imply the falsity of; belie:

      His poor work gives the lie to his claims of experience.

2. lie down on the job, Informal. to do less than one could or should do; shirk one's obligations:

   I don't know why they haven't fired that guy—he's always lying down on the job.

3. lie in one's throat / teeth, to lie grossly or maliciously: Also lie through one's teeth.

   If she told you exactly the opposite of what she told me, she must be lying in her teeth.

4. lie to, Nautical. (of a ship) to lie comparatively stationary, usually with the head as near the wind as possible.
5. take lying down, to hear or yield without protest, contradiction, or resistance:

   I refuse to take such an insult lying down.

6. lie in state. state ( def 24 ).
7. lie low. low ¹( def 51 ).

More idioms and phrases containing lie

• barefaced lie
• give the lie to
• (lie) in state
• lay of the land (how the land lies)
• let sleeping dogs lie
• make one's bed and lie in it
• take lying down
• white lie

Synonym Study

See falsehood.

Example Sentences

The newly imaged star, WOH G64, lies within the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the small galaxies that orbits the Milky Way.

From Science Daily

The young MI5 officer or financial broker who will lie, cheat and steal to protect his position.

From Los Angeles Times

The family cat lies sleeping among the few belongings the family have managed to bring with them from the village of Uspenivka, just outside the besieged city of Pokrovsk.

From BBC

We report on self-serving lies, which pollsters then proceed to use to produce a desired result with no ambiguity.

From Salon

Kroese said, "The framework was able to detect when a cow was transitioning from lying to standing with the same accuracy as humans. The sensitivity of the detection was over 88%."

From Science Daily

Related Words

• deceit
• deception
• dishonesty
• disinformation
• distortion
• evasion
• fabrication
• falsehood
• fiction
• forgery
• inaccuracy
• misrepresentation
• myth
• perjury
• slander
• tale

Lie vs. Lay

What's the difference between lie and lay?

The sense of lie that’s often confused with lay means to be in or get into a reclining position—to recline, as in I just want to lie in bed for a few more minutes. Lay commonly means to put or place someone or something down, as in Lay the bags on the table or I’m going to lay the baby in the crib.

Though it’s considered nonstandard, lay is commonly used to mean the same thing as this sense of lie, as in I just want to lay in bed for a few more minutes.

The confusion between the two words is largely due to the fact that lay is also the past tense form of this sense of lie, as in I lay in bed yesterday morning wishing I could go back to sleep. The other tenses of this sense of lie are lain, as in I have lain in bed for the past three hours, and lying, as in I am lying in bed right now. (In contrast, when lie is used as a verb meaning to tell an untruth, its past tense is simply lied.)

The other tenses of lay are laid, as in I laid the bags on the table, and laying, as in Start laying the fruit here and the vegetables there.

Lay is typically used with an object, meaning someone or something is getting laid down by someone. In contrast, lie is something you do yourself without any other recipients of the action.

This sense of lie is commonly used in the verb phrase lie down, as in I was feeling tired so I decided to lie down. Using the phrase lay down to mean the same thing is considered nonstandard, but it’s also very common.

Lay down is also used as a verb phrase meaning about the same thing as lay, as in You can lay down your bags on the table (or You can lay your bags down on the table).

Although lay and lie are often used interchangeably in casual communication, it’s best to use them in the standard way in more formal contexts.

A good way to remember which one to use is to think about whether you could replace the word with put or recline. If you can replace it with put, you probably want to use lay, as in Please lay (put) the bags on the table. If you could replace the word with recline, you probably want to use lie, as in I just want to lie (recline) in bed for a few more minutes.

Here’s an example of lay and lie used correctly in the same sentence.

Example: He said he was just going to lay the blanket on the grass and lie on it for a few minutes, but he lied. After he laid the blanket down, he lay on it for two hours!

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between lie and lay.

Quiz yourself on lie vs. lay!

Should lie or lay be used in the following sentence?

I’m going to _____ down to take a nap.