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Lie in wait   /laɪ ɪn weɪt/   Listen
verb
Lie  v. i.  (past lay; past part. lain, obs. lien; pres. part. lying)  
1.
To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; often with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin. "The watchful traveler... Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes."
2.
To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port.
3.
To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves; the paper does not lie smooth on the wall.
4.
To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; with in. "Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances." "He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen."
5.
To lodge; to sleep. "Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London,... where I lay one night only." "Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night."
6.
To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest. "The wind is loud and will not lie."
7.
(Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. "An appeal lies in this case." Note: Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie.
To lie along the shore (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in sight.
To lie at the door of, to be imputable to; as, the sin, blame, etc., lies at your door.
To lie at the heart, to be an object of affection, desire, or anxiety.
To lie at the mercy of, to be in the power of.
To lie by.
(a)
To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the manuscript lying by him.
(b)
To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the heat of the day.
To lie hard or To lie heavy, to press or weigh; to bear hard.
To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. "As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."
To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment.
To lie in wait, to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush.
To lie on or To lie upon.
(a)
To depend on; as, his life lies on the result.
(b)
To bear, rest, press, or weigh on.
To lie low, to remain in concealment or inactive. (Slang)
To lie on hand,
To lie on one's hands, to remain unsold or unused; as, the goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much time lying on their hands.
To lie on the head of, to be imputed to. "What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head."
To lie over.
(a)
To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due, as a note in bank.
(b)
To be deferred to some future occasion, as a resolution in a public deliberative body.
To lie to (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as near the wind as possible as being the position of greatest safety in a gale; said of a ship. Cf. To bring to, under Bring.
To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by.
To lie with.
(a)
To lodge or sleep with.
(b)
To have sexual intercourse with.
(c)
To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.



noun
Wait  n.  
1.
The act of waiting; a delay; a halt. "There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso."
2.
Ambush. "An enemy in wait."
3.
One who watches; a watchman. (Obs.)
4.
pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. (Obs.)
5.
pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. (Written formerly wayghtes) "Hark! are the waits abroad?" "The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony."
To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade.
To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Lie in wait" Quotes from Famous Books



... silence and the formidable solitude of the night. All is sleep in the master's house. You feel yourself very small and weak in the presence of the mystery. You know that the gloom is peopled with foes who hover and lie in wait. You suspect the trees, the passing wind and the moonbeams. You would like to hide, to suppress yourself by holding your breath. But still the watch must be kept; you must, at the least sound, issue ...
— Our Friend the Dog • Maurice Maeterlinck

... of the two chiefs, and save the poor remnant of the Hurons, by leading them to an asylum where there was at least a hope of safety. Their resolution once taken, they pushed their preparations with all speed, lest the Iroquois might learn their purpose, and lie in wait to cut them off. Canoes were made ready, and on the tenth of June they began the voyage, with all their French followers and about three hundred Hurons. The Huron ...
— The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century • Francis Parkman

... steepy hills which hideth, Through it slow falling from the mountains high, A rolling brook twixt bush and bramble glideth, Clad with thick shade of boughs of broad-leaved treen, Fit place for men to lie in wait unseen. ...
— Jerusalem Delivered • Torquato Tasso

... his wrath, seeing he had bidden her keep silence. Then said she to herself: "Better to anger him, even to the slaying of me, than have the misery of seeing him perish." So she waited till Geraint drew near, and said: "Lord, there lie in wait for thee four men fully armed, to slay and rob thee." Then he answered her in anger: "Did I desire thy silence or thy warning? Look, then, and whether thou desirest my life or my death, thou shalt see that I dread ...
— Stories from Le Morte D'Arthur and the Mabinogion • Beatrice Clay

... To plays and shows I run not to and fro, And where my master goes, forbear to go." No wonder Satan took the thing amiss, To be opposed by such a man as this - A man so grave, important, cautious, wise, Who dared not trust his feeling or his eyes; No wonder he should lurk and lie in wait, Should fit his hooks and ponder on his bait; Should on his movements keep a watchful eye; For he pursued a fish who led the fry. With his own peace our Clerk was not content; He tried, good man! to make his friends repent. "Nay, nay, my friends, from inns and taverns fly; You may suppress ...
— The Borough • George Crabbe


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