lay by

verb

Definition of lay bynext
1
as in to dump
to get rid of as useless or unwanted a politician who had laid by his principles years ago

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to store
to put (something of future use or value) in a safe or secret place ever since the last hurricane caught them unprepared, they have laid by emergency supplies

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay by
  1. dump
  2. store
  3. discard
  4. lay in
  5. ditch
  6. stash
  7. unload
  8. lay up
Verb
  • The account provides helpful context for understanding the public drama of Musk suddenly dumping Shivon Zilis, his most recent partner and the mother of four of his kids.
    — Sheelah Kolhatkar, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Alex Freeland dumped beer into his mouth and all over his face.
    — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of dump
Verb
  • Amazon alleged that Muse stores customer credentials and scrapes account data, among other issues.
    — Caleigh Keating, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026
  • According to Meta, Muse cannot see passwords or payment methods stored there.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of store
Verb
  • Technologies, markets, laws and cultural assumptions all determine what is discarded, what is kept and why.
    — Edward D. Melillo, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The Radical Approach​ Generally, a semiconductor wafer (up to 12 inches in diameter) is diced up into chips or dies, and any defective parts of the wafer can be discarded.
    — Nandan Nayampally, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of discard
Verb
  • The challenge lay in orchestrating these systems simultaneously.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Three roach corpses lay in the kitchen at the dishwashing area.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of lay in
Verb
  • Researchers have developed a paper-thin foot membrane that lets crawling microrobots harvest electricity directly from the ground beneath them, ditching heavy onboard batteries by turning metal and silicon surfaces into an active power source.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Now that their youngest kids, twins Knox and Vivienne, are 18, Jolie is ready to ditch the US.
    — Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of ditch
Verb
  • Small kitchens force hard choices about what sits on the counter and what gets stashed away.
    — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
  • In total, the Yankees have just shy of $120 million stashed away to cover their stadium commitments.
    — Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of stash
Verb
  • At a glance, securities filings show that executives at JPMorgan routinely unload shares worth upwards of $800,000 in a quarter.
    — Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Getting thousands of sailors and tons of equipment off the ship is like unloading a small city.
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of unload
Verb
  • Mayflies lay up to 10,000 eggs in the water, and their nymphs can't survive in water that is polluted.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 29 June 2026
  • Female wasps can lay up to 200 eggs a day as long as a host insect is available.
    — Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 19 June 2026
Definition of lay up
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

lay back
lay by
lay down
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Cite this Entry

“Lay by.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20by. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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