laying

«laying» in Mova's school dictionary: putting something down, usually flat or carefully, like… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb form of lay (lay, lays, laid, laying); adjective (laying)

meaning for a pupil

1) Laying means putting something down, usually flat or carefully, like laying a book on a table. tree →

2) A hen laying eggs is making eggs come out of her body. tree →

3) Laying a table means putting plates, knives and forks on it. tree →

4) Laying bricks, tiles or a carpet is putting them in place to build or cover something. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths: hens laying eggs at a rate: eggs = hens × eggs per hen × days; laying tiles or bricks in rows: rows × tiles per row. In science: birds, reptiles, fish and insects lay eggs. At home: laying the table for dinner. Phrases: laying eggs, laying the table, laying bricks, laying tiles, laying hens.

examples

• Each hen is laying 1 egg a day. tree →
• He is laying 8 tiles in each row. tree →
• 6 hens laid 30 eggs this week. tree →
• They are laying bricks for a wall. tree →
• Please help me by laying the table. tree →
• The turtle is laying her eggs in the sand. tree →
• Workers are laying a new road. tree →
• She is laying the baby in its cot. tree →
• This he did, laying the meat on the platform. tree →

note

«Lay» needs an object (lay the table, lay eggs): lay, laid, laying. Do not mix it up with «lie» (to rest flat): lie, lay, lain, lying. «I am lying in bed», not «laying in bed». A rate: eggs = hens × eggs per hen × days. Trap: count each hen's eggs, not just the hens.

In the corpora

• You do not have to feel sad about a famous person you never knew; the people laying flowers knew their songs or films.
• Around 1799 the naturalist George Shaw checked the first platypus skin for stitches, and egg-laying was finally proved only in 1884.
• In confirmation a person confirms for themselves the promises made at their baptism, often with a bishop laying hands on them.
• They encourage one another in an evil matter; they converse of laying snares secretly; they ask, who would see them.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «laying» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.