laid down

verb

past tense of lay down
1
as in enacted
to put into effect through legislative or authoritative action the city council promises to lay down new ordinances that will force dog walkers to clean up after their animals

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2
as in declared
to state clearly and strongly at the risk of their popularity, the parents laid down the rules for the party and wouldn't accept any arguments

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3
as in specified
to give the rules about (something) clearly and exactly the supervisor laid down the procedure for a complaint of sexual harassment

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4
as in relinquished
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress commanded the surrounded troops to lay down their weapons

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for laid down
  1. enacted
  2. declared
  3. specified
  4. relinquished
  5. passed
  6. asserted
  7. defined
  8. rendered
Verb
  • In subsequent decades, Congress enacted a series of major reductions to the estate tax.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Some states, including California, have enacted measures about AI, including requiring entities to be transparent when it is used.
    — Chandelis Duster, NPR, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of enacted
Verb
  • Before Kenya reported its case, there had been no active cases outside Congo since Uganda declared its outbreak over in late August.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Busan Mayor Park Chun Jae-soo declared the festival open, delivering his first opening-night address as mayor.
    — Lin Ying-Hsuan, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of declared
Verb
  • The test will cost somewhere between about $500 (the current Medicare payment for Cologuard, the benchmark specified in the MCED Coverage Act) and $949 (Grail’s current list price).
    — H. Gilbert Welch, STAT, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Head coach Dave Canales has not specified what Legette’s injury is.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of specified
Verb
  • Tate Nagy relinquished punt return duties to Keaton Kubecka Saturday.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Suwarso relinquished his standard four-ticket allocation for the game.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of relinquished
Verb
  • These firms also passed a due diligence check, including any regulatory disclosures.
    — Kate Dore, CFP®, EA,Kelli Grant, CFP®, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Vienna researchers found the clock’s signal changed slightly depending on where the laser passed through the crystal.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of passed
Verb
  • The suit also asserted Vista Grande initiated the ER trips in retaliation for the family's disagreements about Tingley's care.
    — Jordan Rau, NPR, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Kim asserted once again that his nation, no matter the external threat, is prepared to defend itself.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of asserted
Verb
  • The General Assembly created the Board of Regents, defined its authority, and now has the power to investigate and change that structure.
    — Dr. Matthew Warshauer, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Legal experts on the other side question the notion that a public nuisance can be defined so broadly to include both the sale of a legal product and the impact on carbon pollution, much of it coming from China and India.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of defined
Verb
  • They were rendered invisible in the dominant discourse, their deaths acceptable costs in a game of power politics and conquest.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Abercrombie, who was born in Texas in 1909 and grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, is known for enigmatic, psychologically potent compositions of natural objects and mysterious figures rendered in a muted palette.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of rendered
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

laid by
laid down
laid eyes on
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Cite this Entry

“Laid down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/laid%20down. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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