waylay
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to intercept or attack from ambush, as in order to rob, seize, or slay.
-
to await and accost unexpectedly.
The actor was waylaid by a swarm of admirers.
verb
-
to lie in wait for and attack
-
to await and intercept unexpectedly
Other Word Forms
- waylayer noun
Etymology
Origin of waylay
First recorded in 1505–15; way 1 + lay 1, after Middle Low German, Middle Dutch wegelagen “to lie in wait,” derivative of wegelage “a lying in wait”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Most projects take years to complete, hindered by the pendulum swings of available money, so Brewster tempers her frustration at having to waylay them mid-planning until she can find enough cash.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
Barkin said that the Fed will need to "walk a fine line" as it navigates between doing too much and doing too little, and that regardless any external shock has the potential to waylay policy.
From Reuters • Nov. 9, 2023
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is worried that the COVID-19 crisis might waylay his plans to increase the military budget.
From Slate • May 5, 2020
But SNAs, at only billionths of a meter across, seem able to travel anywhere in the body and get inside cells before immune defenses can waylay them.
From Nature • Dec. 3, 2019
What he felt was the chilly recklessness that had come to waylay his heart.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
