1.  lay(n = noun.communication) ballad - a narrative song with a recurrent refrain;
is a kind of song, vocal
has particulars: minstrelsy

2.  lay(n = noun.communication) ballad - a narrative poem of popular origin;
is a kind of poem, verse form
has particulars: edda

1.  lay(v = verb.contact) place, pose, position, put, set - put into a certain place or abstract location; "Put your things here"; "Set the tray down"; "Set the dogs on the scent of the missing children"; "Place emphasis on a certain point"
is one way to displace, move
Sample sentences: They lay the bags on the table

2.  lay(v = verb.contact) put down, repose - put in a horizontal position; "lay the books on the table"; "lay the patient carefully onto the bed"
is one way to lay, place, pose, position, put, set
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s somebody PP; Somebody ----s something PP

3.  lay(v = verb.creation) - prepare or position for action or operation; "lay a fire"; "lay the foundation for a new health care plan"
is one way to devise, get up, machinate, organise, organize, prepare
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

4.  lay(v = verb.contact) - lay eggs; "This hen doesn't lay"
is one way to lay, put down, repose
Derived form noun layer₄
Sample sentences: Something ----s

5.  lay(v = verb.possession) - impose as a duty, burden, or punishment; "lay a responsibility on someone"
is one way to impose, levy
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something; Somebody ----s something PP

1.  lay(s = adj.all) laic, secular - characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy; "set his collar in laic rather than clerical position"; "the lay ministry"
Derived form noun laity₁

2.  lay(s = adj.all) - not of or from a profession; "a lay opinion as to the cause of the disease"

   of Lie, to recline. [1913 Webster]

1.  Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother. [1913 Webster]

2.  Not educated or cultivated; ignorant. [1913 Webster]

3.  Not belonging to, or emanating from, a particular profession; unprofessional; as, a lay opinion regarding the nature of a disease. [1913 Webster]

   The laity; the common people. [1913 Webster]
"The learned have no more privilege than the lay." [1913 Webster]

   A meadow. See Lea. Dryden. [1913 Webster]

1.  Faith; creed; religious profession. [1913 Webster]
"Of the sect to which that he was born
He kept his lay, to which that he was sworn." [1913 Webster]

2.  A law. Spenser. [1913 Webster]

3.  An obligation; a vow. [1913 Webster]
"They bound themselves by a sacred lay and oath." [1913 Webster]

1.  A song; a simple lyrical poem; a ballad. Spenser. Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

2.  A melody; any musical utterance. [1913 Webster]
"The throstle cock made eke his lay." [1913 Webster]

1.  To cause to lie down, to be prostrate, or to lie against something; to put or set down; to deposit; as, to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave; a shower lays the dust. [1913 Webster]
"A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den." [1913 Webster]
"Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid." [1913 Webster]

2.  To place in position; to establish firmly; to arrange with regularity; to dispose in ranks or tiers; as, to lay a corner stone; to lay bricks in a wall; to lay the covers on a table. [1913 Webster]

3.  To prepare; to make ready; to contrive; to provide; as, to lay a snare, an ambush, or a plan. [1913 Webster]

4.  To spread on a surface; as, to lay plaster or paint. [1913 Webster]

5.  To cause to be still; to calm; to allay; to suppress; to exorcise, as an evil spirit. [1913 Webster]
"After a tempest when the winds are laid." [1913 Webster]

6.  To cause to lie dead or dying. [1913 Webster]
"Brave Cæneus laid Ortygius on the plain,
The victor Cæneus was by Turnus slain." [1913 Webster]

7.  To deposit, as a wager; to stake; to risk. [1913 Webster]
"I dare lay mine honor
He will remain so." [1913 Webster]

8.  To bring forth and deposit; as, to lay eggs. [1913 Webster]

9.  To apply; to put. [1913 Webster]
"She layeth her hands to the spindle." [1913 Webster]

10.  To impose, as a burden, suffering, or punishment; to assess, as a tax; as, to lay a tax on land. [1913 Webster]
"The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." [1913 Webster]

11.  To impute; to charge; to allege. [1913 Webster]
"God layeth not folly to them." [1913 Webster]
"Lay the fault on us." [1913 Webster]

12.  To impose, as a command or a duty; as, to lay commands on one. [1913 Webster]

13.  To present or offer; as, to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one. [1913 Webster]

14.  To state; to allege; as, to lay the venue. Bouvier. [1913 Webster]

15.  To point; to aim; as, to lay a gun. [1913 Webster]

16.  To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them; as, to lay a cable or rope. [1913 Webster]

17.  To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone. [1913 Webster]
"And laid those proud roofs bare to summer's rain."
"Let brave spirits . . . not be laid by."
"No selfish man will be concerned to lay out himself for the good of his country." [1913 Webster]

1.  To produce and deposit eggs. [1913 Webster]

2.  To take a position; to come or go; as, to lay forward; to lay aloft. [1913 Webster]

3.  To lay a wager; to bet. [1913 Webster]

1.  That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a layer; as, a lay of stone or wood. Addison. [1913 Webster]
" The lay of a rope is right-handed or left-handed according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See Lay, v. t., 16. The lay of land is its topographical situation, esp. its slope and its surface features." [1913 Webster]
"A viol should have a lay of wire strings below." [1913 Webster]

2.  A wager. [1913 Webster]

3.  A job, price, or profit. [1913 Webster]

4.  A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st Lea (a). [1913 Webster]

5.  A plan; a scheme. Dickens. [1913 Webster]

lay, v. & n.
--v. (past and past part. laid)
1 tr. place on a surface, esp. horizontally or in the proper or specified place.
2 tr. put or bring into a certain or the required position or state (laid his hand on her arm; lay a carpet).
3 intr. dial. or erron. lie.

Idiom:
in lay (of a hen) laying eggs regularly. laid-back colloq. relaxed, unbothered, easygoing. laid paper paper with the surface marked in fine ribs. laid up confined to bed or the house. lay about one
1 hit out on all sides.
2 criticize indiscriminately.
lay aside
1 put to one side.
2 cease to practise or consider.
3 save (money etc.) for future needs. lay at the door of see DOOR. lay back cause to slope back from the vertical. lay bare expose, reveal. lay a charge make an accusation. lay claim to claim as one's own.
lay down
1 put on the ground.
2 relinquish; give up (an office).
3 formulate (a rule or principle).
4 pay or wager (money).
5 begin to construct (a ship or railway).
6 store (wine) in a cellar.
7 set down on paper.
8 sacrifice (one's life).
9 convert (land) into pasture.
10 record (esp. popular music). lay down the law see LAW. lay one's hands on obtain, acquire, locate.
lay hands on
1 seize or attack.
2 place one's hands on or over, esp. in confirmation, ordination, or spiritual healing. lay hold of seize or grasp. lay in provide oneself with a stock of. lay into colloq. punish or scold heavily. lay it on thick (or with a trowel) colloq. flatter or exaggerate grossly. lay low overthrow, kill, or humble.
lay off
1 discharge (workers) temporarily because of a shortage of work.
2 colloq. desist.
lay-off n.
1 a temporary discharge of workers.
2 a period when this is in force.
lay on
1 provide (a facility, amenity, etc.).
2 impose (a penalty, obligation, etc.).
3 inflict (blows).
4 spread on (paint etc.). lay on the table see TABLE. lay open 1 break the skin of.
2 (foll. by to) expose (to criticism etc.).
lay out
1 spread out.
2 expose to view.
3 prepare (a corpse) for burial.
4 colloq. knock unconscious.
5 dispose (grounds etc.) according to a plan.
6 expend (money).
7 refl. (foll. by to + infin.) take pains (to do something) (laid themselves out to help). lay store by see STORE. lay to rest bury in a grave.
lay up
1 store, save.
2 put (a ship etc.) out of service. lay waste see WASTE.

Usage:
This use, incorrect in standard English, is probably partly encouraged by confusion with lay as the past of lie, as in the dog lay on the floor which is correct; the dog is laying on the floor is not correct.
4 tr. make by laying (lay the foundations).
5 tr. (often absol.) (of a hen bird) produce (an egg).
6 tr. a cause to subside or lie flat. b deal with to remove (a ghost, fear, etc.).
7 tr. place or present for consideration (a case, proposal, etc.).
8 tr. set down as a basis or starting-point.
9 tr. (usu. foll. by on) attribute or impute (blame etc.).
10 tr. locate (a scene etc.) in a certain place.
11 tr. prepare or make ready (a plan or a trap).
12 tr. prepare (a table) for a meal.
13 tr. place or arrange the material for (a fire).
14 tr. put down as a wager; stake.
15 tr. (foll. by with) coat or strew (a surface).
16 tr. sl. offens. have sexual intercourse with (esp. a woman).
--n.
1 the way, position, or direction in which something lies.
2 sl. offens. a partner (esp. female) in sexual intercourse.
3 the direction or amount of twist in rope-strands.

lay, adj.
1 a non-clerical. b not ordained into the clergy.
2 a not professionally qualified, esp. in law or medicine. b of or done by such persons.

Idiom:
lay brother (or sister) a person who has taken the vows of a religious order but is not ordained and is employed in ancillary or manual work. lay reader a lay person licensed to conduct some religious services.

lay, n.
1 a short lyric or narrative poem meant to be sung.
2 a song.

lay, past of LIE.

N  poetry, poetics, poesy, Muse, Calliope, tuneful Nine, Parnassus, Helicon, Pierides, Pierian spring, versification, rhyming, making verses, prosody, orthometry, poem, epic, epic poem, epopee, epopoea, ode, epode, idyl, lyric, eclogue, pastoral, bucolic, dithyramb, anacreontic, sonnet, roundelay, rondeau, rondo, madrigal, canzonet, cento, monody, elegy, amoebaeum, ghazal, palinode, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, opera, posy, anthology, disjecta membra poetae song, ballad, lay, love song, drinking song, war song, sea song, lullaby, music, nursery rhymes, doggerel, Hudibrastic verse, prose run mad, macaronics, macaronic verse, leonine verse, runes, canto, stanza, distich, verse, line, couplet, triplet, quatrain, strophe, antistrophe, verse, rhyme, assonance, crambo, meter, measure, foot, numbers, strain, rhythm, accentuation, dactyl, spondee, trochee, anapest, hexameter, pentameter, Alexandrine, anacrusis, antispast, blank verse, ictus, elegiacs, elegiac verse, elegaic meter, elegaic poetry, poet, poet laureate, laureate, bard, lyrist, scald, skald, troubadour, trouvere, minstrel, minnesinger, meistersinger, improvisatore, versifier, sonneteer, rhymer, rhymist, rhymester, ballad monger, runer, poetaster, genus irritabile vatum, poetic, poetical, lyric, lyrical, tuneful, epic, dithyrambic, metrical, a catalectin, elegiac, iambic, trochaic, anapestic, amoebaeic, Melibean, skaldic, Ionic, Sapphic, Alcaic, Pindaric, a poem round and perfect as a star, Dichtung und Wahrheit, furor poeticus, his virtues formed the magic of his song, I do but sing because I must, I learnt life from the poets, licentia vatum, mutum est pictura poema, O for a muse of fire!, sweet food of sweetly uttered knowledge, the true poem is the poet's mind, Volk der Dichter und Denker, wisdom married to immortal verse.

VB  chance, stand a chance, toss up, cast lots, draw lots, leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents, tempt fortune, chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt), run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance, stand the hazard of the die, speculate, try one's luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards, risk, venture, hazard, stake, ante, lay, lay a wager, make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for, play at chuck farthing, chance, hap, turn up, fall to one's lot, be one's fate, stumble on light upon, take one's chance.

VB  hinder, impede, filibuster, impedite, embarrass, keep off, stave off, ward off, obviate, avert, antevert, turn aside, draw off, prevent, forefend, nip in the bud, retard, slacken, check, let, counteract, countercheck, preclude, debar, foreclose, estop, inhibit, shackle, restrict, obstruct, stop, stay, bar, bolt, lock, block, block up, choke off, belay, barricade, block the way, bar the way, stop the way, forelay, dam up, put on the brake, scotch the wheel, lock the wheel, put a spoke in the wheel, put a stop to, traverse, contravene, interrupt, intercept, oppose, hedge in, hedge round, cut off, inerclude, interpose, interfere, intermeddle, cramp, hamper, clog, clog the wheels, cumber, encumber, incumber, handicap, choke, saddle with, load with, overload, lay, lumber, trammel, tie one's hands, put to inconvenience, incommode, discommode, discompose, hustle, corner, drive into a corner, run foul of, fall foul of, cross the path of, break in upon, thwart, frustrate, disconcert, balk, foil, faze, feaze, feeze, baffle, snub, override, circumvent, defeat, spike guns, spoil, mar, clip the wings of, cripple, put an extinguisher on, damp, dishearten, discountenance, throw cold water on, spoil sport, lay a wet blanket, throw a wet blanket on, cut the ground from under one, take the wind out of one's sails, undermine, be in the way of, stand in the way of, act as a drag, hang like a millstone round one's neck.

VB  produce, perform, operate, do, make, gar, form, construct, fabricate, frame, contrive, manufacture, weave, forge, coin, carve, chisel, build, raise, edify, rear, erect, put together, set up, run up, establish, constitute, compose, organize, institute, achieve, accomplish, flower, bear fruit, fructify, teem, ean, yean, farrow, drop, pup, kitten, kindle, bear, lay, whelp, bring forth, give birth to, lie in, be brought to bed of, evolve, pullulate, usher into the world, make productive, create, beget, get, generate, fecundate, impregnate, procreate, progenerate, propagate, engender, bring into being, call into being, bring into existence, breed, hatch, develop, bring up, induce, superinduce, suscitate, cause, acquire.

VB  be moderate, keep within bounds, keep within compass, sober down, settle down, keep the peace, remit, relent, take in sail, moderate, soften, mitigate, temper, accoy, attemper, contemper, mollify, lenify, dulcify, dull, take off the edge, blunt, obtund, sheathe, subdue, chasten, sober down, tone down, smooth down, weaken, lessen, check palliate, tranquilize, pacify, assuage, appease, swag, lull, soothe, compose, still, calm, calm down, cool, quiet, hush, quell, sober, pacify, tame, damp, lay, allay, rebate, slacken, smooth, alleviate, rock to sleep, deaden, smooth, throw cold water on, throw a wet blanket over, turn off, slake, curb, tame, smooth over, pour oil on the waves, pour oil on the troubled waters, pour balm into, mattre de l'eau dans son vin, go out like a lamb, roar you as gently as any sucking dove.

VB  place, situate, locate, localize, make a place for, put, lay, set, seat, station, lodge, quarter, post, install, house, stow, establish, fix, pin, root, graft, plant, shelve, pitch, camp, lay down, deposit, reposit, cradle, moor, tether, picket, pack, tuck in, embed, imbed, vest, invest in, billet on, quarter upon, saddle with, load, lade, freight, pocket, put up, bag, inhabit, domesticate, colonize, take root, strike root, anchor, cast anchor, come to an anchor, sit down, settle down, settle, take up one's abode, take up one's quarters, plant oneself, establish oneself, locate oneself, squat, perch, hive, se nicher, bivouac, burrow, get a footing, encamp, pitch one's tent, put up at, put up one's horses at, keep house, endenizen, naturalize, adopt, put back, replace.

N  laity, flock, fold, congregation, assembly, brethren, people, society, temporality, secularization, layman, civilian, parishioner, catechumen, secularist, secular, lay, laical, civil, temporal, profane.

N  plain, table-land, face of the country, open country, champaign country, basin, downs, waste, weary waste, desert, wild, steppe, pampas, savanna, prairie, heath, common, wold, veldt, moor, moorland, bush, plateau, campagna, alkali flat, llano, mesa, mesilla, playa, shaking prairie, trembling prairie, vega, meadow, mead, haugh, pasturage, park, field, lawn, green, plat, plot, grassplat, greensward, sward, turf, sod, heather, lea, ley, lay, grounds, maidan, agostadero, champaign, alluvial, campestral, campestrial, campestrian, campestrine.

N  music, concert, strain, tune, air, melody, aria, arietta, piece of music, work, number, opus, sonata, rondo, rondeau, pastorale, cavatina, roulade, fantasia, concerto, overture, symphony, variations, cadenza, cadence, fugue, canon, quodlibet, serenade, notturno, dithyramb, opera, operetta, oratorio, composition, movement, stave, passamezzo, toccata, Vorspiel, instrumental music, full score, minstrelsy, tweedledum and tweedledee, band, orchestra, concerted piece, potpourri, capriccio, vocal music, vocalism, chaunt, chant, psalm, psalmody, hymn, song, canticle, canzonet, cantata, bravura, lay, ballad, ditty, carol, pastoral, recitative, recitativo, solfeggio, Lydian measures, slow music, slow movement, adagio, minuet, siren strains, soft music, lullaby, dump, dirge, pibroch, martial music, march, dance music, waltz, solo, duet, duo, trio, quartet, quartett, septett, part song, descant, glee, madrigal, catch, round, chorus, chorale, antiphon, antiphony, accompaniment, second, bass, score, bourdon, drone, morceau, terzetto, composer, musician, musical, instrumental, vocal, choral, lyric, operatic, harmonious, Wagnerian, adagio, largo, larghetto, andante, andantino, alla capella, maestoso, moderato, allegro, allegretto, spiritoso, vivace, veloce, presto, prestissimo, con brio, capriccioso, scherzo, scherzando, legato, staccato, crescendo, diminuendo, rallentando, affettuoso, obbligato, pizzicato, desto, in notes by distance made more sweet, like the faint exquisite music of a dream, music arose with its voluptuous swell, music is the universal language of mankind, music's golden tongue, the speech of angels, will sing the savageness out of a bear, music hath charms to soothe the savage beast.

easy lay, lay aside, lay away, lay before, lay by, lay claim, lay down, lay down the law, lay eyes on, lay figure, lay hands on, lay in, lay into, lay it on thick, lay low, lay off, lay on, lay on the line, lay out, lay over, lay reader, lay shaft, lay the foundation, lay to, lay to rest, lay up, lay waste, lay waste to, lay witness