Part 6419

<i>Addison.</i>

<blockquote>A viol should have a <b>lay</b> of wire strings below. <i>Bacon.</i></blockquote>

<note>&hand; The <i>lay</i> of a rope is right-handed or left-handed according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See <er>Lay</er>, <tt>v. t.</tt>, 16. The <i>lay</i> of land is its topographical situation, esp. its slope and its surface features.</note>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A wager.</def> "My fortunes against any <i>lay</i> worth naming."

<p><b>3.</b> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>A job, price, or profit.</def> <mark>[Prov. Eng.]</mark> <i>Wright</i>. <sd>(b)</sd> <def> A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise; <as>as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain <ex>lay</ex></as>.</def> <mark>[U. S.]</mark>

<p><b>4.</b> <fld>(Textile Manuf.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <def>A measure of yarn; a les. See 1st <er>Lea</er></def> <sd>(a)</sd>.</def> <sd>(b)</sd> <def>The lathe of a loom. See <er>Lathe</er>, 8.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>A plan; a scheme.</def> <mark>[Slang]</mark>

<i>Dickens.</i>

<cs><col>Lay figure</col>. <sd>(a)</sd> <cd>A jointed model of the human body that may be put in any attitude; -- used for showing the disposition of drapery, etc.</cd> <sd>(b)</sd> <cd>A mere puppet; one who serves the will of others without independent volition.</cd> -- <col>Lay race</col>, <cd>that part of a lay on which the shuttle travels in weaving; -- called also <altname>shuttle race</altname>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Layer</h1> <Xpage=836>

<hw>Lay"er</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[See <er>Lay</er> to cause to lie flat.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>One who, or that which, lays.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <ety>[Prob. a corruption of <ets>lair</ets>.]</ety> <def>That which is laid; a stratum; a bed; one thickness, course, or fold laid over another; <as>as, a <ex>layer</ex> of clay or of sand in the earth; a <ex>layer</ex> of bricks, or of plaster; the <ex>layers</ex> of an onion.</as></def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>An artificial oyster bed.</def>

<h1>Layering</h1> <Xpage=836>

<hw>Lay"er*ing</hw>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A propagating by layers.</def>

<i>Gardner.</i>

<h1>Laying</h1> <Xpage=836>

<hw>Lay"ing</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>The act of one who, or that which, lays.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>The act or period of laying eggs; the eggs laid for one incubation; a clutch.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>The first coat on laths of plasterer's two-coat work.</def>

<h1>Layland</h1> <Xpage=836>

<hw>Lay"land`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[<ets>Lay</ets> a meadow + <ets>land</ets>.]</ety> <def>Land lying untilled; fallow ground.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Blount.</i>

<h1>Layman</h1> <Xpage=836>

<hw>Lay"man</hw> <tt>(?)</tt> <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Laymen</plw> <tt>(<?/)</tt>.</plu> <ety>[<ets>Lay</ets>, <ets>adj</ets>. + <ets>man</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>One of the people, in distinction from the clergy; one of the laity; sometimes, a man not belonging to some particular profession, in distinction from those who do.</def><-- used esp. by physicians of those w/o medical training -->

<blockquote>Being a <b>layman</b>, I ought not to have concerned myself with speculations which belong to the profession. <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>