lay down
verb
Simple meaning
To specify, institute, enact, assert firmly, state authoritatively, establish or formulate.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
laydownSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈleɪˈdaʊn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To specify, institute, enact, assert firmly, state authoritatively, establish or formulate (rules or policies).
transitive
To give up, surrender, or yield (e.g. a weapon), usually by placing it on the ground.
To place on the ground, e.g. a railway on a trackbed.
To sacrifice, especially in the phrase "to lay down one's life."
To stock, store (e.g. wine) for the future. See also lay by.
transitive
To intentionally take a fall while riding a motorcycle, in order to prevent a more serious collision.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To specify, institute, enact, assert firmly, state authoritatively, establish or formulate (rules or policies).
Used this way, lay down is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.