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# laid

«laid» in Mova's school dictionary: **the past of lay: to put something down carefully, often…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb form (laid; past and past participle of lay)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Laid is the past of lay: to put something down carefully, often flat: She laid the baby in the cot. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#m1)

2) Laid is used when a hen or another animal made an egg: The hen laid an egg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#m2)

3) Laid the table means put plates and cutlery on it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#m3)

4) Laid back (informal) means calm and relaxed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#m4)

5) Laid can also mean arranged or prepared in advance, as when you lay plans for a trip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#m5)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, an action that adds: eggs laid, bricks or tiles laid in rows (rows × bricks per row). In science, birds, reptiles, fish and insects lay eggs. In everyday life: laying the table, laying a carpet. In stories, a goose laid golden eggs. Phrases: «laid the table», «laid out», «laid down», «laid back».

### examples

- The hens laid 24 eggs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x1)
- He laid 5 rows of 10 bricks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x2)
- She laid 3 books on the table. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x3)
- How many eggs were laid in a week? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x4)
- The goose laid a golden egg. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x5)
- I laid the table for dinner. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x6)
- The turtle laid her eggs in the sand. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x7)
- He laid his coat over the chair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x8)
- Uncle Pete is very laid back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x9)
- Nigel and the Princess laid their plans. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/#x10)

### note

Lay (put down) goes lay, laid, laid; lie (rest flat) goes lie, lay, lain — so «I lay on the bed» is the past of lie. Eggs laid add to the eggs collected; rows of bricks laid mean multiply. Trap: do not mix up with «lain» from lie, or with «lied» (said something untrue).

### In the corpora

- [Sea otters smash shellfish on a stone laid on the chest and keep a favourite stone in a loose skin pocket under the arm.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/100-sea-lions-seals-and-otters/12/)
- [Female Komodo dragons in British zoos laid eggs that hatched with no father, a rare virgin birth called parthenogenesis.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/146-shrek-s-dragon-real-dragons-and-lizards/10/)
- [Ants follow scent trails laid by other ants; a line of ants is made by feet and smell, not by a leader.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/304-ants-of-the-world-weaver-ants-bullet-ants-honeypot-ants-and-trap-jaw-ants/16/)
- [Skin is the body's largest organ; an adult's skin would cover roughly two square metres if laid out flat.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/353-skin-layers-sweat-goosebumps-freckles-and-sunburn/4/)
- ["Laid to rest" means buried.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/1-death-polite-and-joking/23/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «laid» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/laid/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.