lay on

verb

Definition of lay onnext
1
as in to spread
to put a layer of on a surface she lays the butter on so thickly that you hardly taste the bagel

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to employ
chiefly British to provide with a paying job lay on more staff for the busy tourist season in the Lake District

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay on
  1. spread
  2. employ
  3. apply
  4. hire
  5. recruit
  6. smear
Verb
  • Fix the Hide Before Tweaking the Spread If things aren’t going as planned and ducks aren’t finishing, duck hunters tend to want to mess with the decoy spread.
    Joe Arterburn, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
  • Dozens of firefighters were battling the brush fire just days after fires in wooded areas of Brooklyn, the Bronx and New Jersey spread smoke across New York City.
    Evan Bush, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024
Definition of spread
Verb
  • As part of these tactics, China has levied tariffs and embargoes on Taiwanese exports, sought to increase Taiwan’s international isolation, and employed disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks meant to destabilize its people and government.
    David Sacks, Foreign Affairs, 8 Nov. 2024
  • Acronis Cyber Protect also employs machine learning to monitor performance and reliability.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024
Definition of employ
Verb
  • Director Bruce Goodison applies the tension well in the first two thirds of this efficient Shudder release, but then the plot smacks into a dead-end in its final act.
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2024
  • This also applies to any Amazon EC2 instance that's been backed up.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 6 Nov. 2024
Definition of apply
Verb
  • While not all 23 companies have announced their hiring plans, these facilities are expected to support nearly 30,000 new jobs, with projects mostly in the U.S. Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest.
    James Morton Turner, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2024
  • Turner's offensive mind led to his being hired by the Redskins, Raiders, Chargers, Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, and Carolina Panthers.
    James Brizuela, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of hire
Verb
  • Legends of Tomorrow started its life as the Arrowverse’s biggest flop, with a dull first season about a motley crew of heroes and villains from The Flash and Arrow being recruited by a time traveler to stop a despot’s rise to power.
    Joshua Rivera, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2024
  • During that time, the actor purchased an uninhabitable island in Tahiti and recruited Los Angeles architect Judge, portrayed by Jon Heder, to build the world’s first ecologically friendly retreat.
    Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2024
Definition of recruit
Verb
  • Lila’s makeup is smeared all over her face; the windows of the apartment are wide open, the wind rattling the empty rooms.
    Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Rubbing will smear the mud and cause a bigger problem.
    Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 28 Oct. 2024
Definition of smear
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near lay on

layoffs

lay on

layout

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Lay on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20on. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
turkey-looking-at-camera
Giving Thanks Quiz Decide which words express gratitude and which gi...