Lie1, n.
n. Water impregnated with alkaline salt. See LYE.
4 entries under this word
Lie
Lie2, n.
(lī), n. [A-S. lyge, lygen, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, D. leugen, O. H. Ger. lügi, lügina, lug, luc, M. H. Ger. lüge, lügene, luc, N. H. Ger. lüge, lug. See infra.]
Sense 1. A criminal falsehood; a falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth.
It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road. Paley.
Sense 2. A fiction;—in a ludicrous sense. Dryden.
Sense 3. Any thing which misleads or disappoints, as false doctrine and the like. “Wishing this lie of life was o’er.” Trench.
To give the lie to, to charge with falsehood; as, a man’s actions may give the lie to his words.
Synonyms—Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception.—LIE, UNTRUTH. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; but to say he lies, is to charge him with the highest dishonor. Hence the word untruth is sometimes used as a softened expression when we do not wish to make the charge of lying in the grossest form. “When I hear my neighbor speak that which is not true, and I say to him, This is not true, or This is false, I only convey to him the naked idea of his error: this is the primary idea; but if I say it is a lie, the word lie carries also a secondary idea; for it implies both the falsehood of the speech, and my reproach and censure of the speaker.”
Watts.
Lie3, v. i.
v. i. [imp. & p. p. LIED; p. pr. & vb. n. LYING.] [O. Eng. lee, A-S. leógan, O. Sax. liogan, liagan, Goth. liugan, O. H. Ger. liogan, M. H. Ger. & D. liegen, N. H. Ger. liegen, Icel. ljúga, Sw. ljuga, Dan. lyve.] To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to exhibit a false representation; to say or do that which deceives another, when he has a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.
Lie4, v. i.
v. i. [imp. LAY; p. p. LAIN (LIEN, obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. LYING.] [A-S. licgan, ligean, liggan, O. Sax. & Goth. ligan, O. H. Ger. liggan, ligen, N. H. Ger. liegen, D. liggen, O. Fries. liga, Icel. liggia, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge.]
Sense 1. To be low; to rest extended on the ground; to rest on a bed or couch; to be in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostrate; to be stretched out;—often with down, when predicated of living creatures.
The watchful traveler . . .
Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. Dryden.
Sense 2. To be situated; to occupy a fixed place; as, Ireland lies west of England.
Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. Collier.
Sense 3. To abide; to remain;—often followed by some word or phrase denoting a state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie pining or grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of a creditor, or at the mercy of the waves.
Sense 4. To belong, or pertain; to be dependent; to consist;—with in.
He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising of the huntsman. Locke.
Sense 5. To lodge; to sleep.
Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . . . where I lay one night only. Evelyn.
Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. Dickens.
Sense 6. (Law.) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
An appeal lies in this case. Parsons.
To lie at, to tease or importune. [Obs.]—To lie at the heart, to be fixed, as an object of affection or anxious desire. “The Spaniards have but one temptation to quarrel with us,—the recovering of Jamaica; for that has ever lain at their hearts.” Temple.—To lie by. (a.) To be reposited, or remaining with; as, he has the manuscript lying by him. (b.) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the heat of the day.—To lie down, to lay the body on the ground, or other level place; also, to go to rest.—To lie hard or heavy, to press; to oppress; to burden.—To lie in, to be in child-bed; to bring forth young.—To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. xii. 18.—To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment.—To lie in wait, to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush; to watch for an opportunity to make an attack or seizure.—To lie on or upon, to be a matter of obligation or duty.—To lie on hand, to be or remain in possession; to remain unsold or undisposed of.—To lie on the hands, to remain unoccupied or unemployed; to be tedious; as, men are sometimes at a loss to know how to employ the time that lies on their hands.—To lie on the head of, to be imputed to. “What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head.” Shak.—To lie over. (a.) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due, as a note in bank. (b.) To be deferred to some future occasion, as a resolution in a public deliberative body.—To lie to (Naut.), to be checked or stopped, either by counterbracing the yards or taking in sail;—said of a vessel.—To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by.—To lie with. (a.) To lodge or sleep with. (b.) To have carnal knowledge of. (c.) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.
Synonyms—To LIE, LAY. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book laid on the shelf, &c. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie. This would save many respectable writers from a gross error, which seems to be increasing among us.