Adjacent Words

Lie definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LIE, water impregnated with alkaline salt, is written lye, to distinguish it from lie, a falsehood.
LIE, n.
1. A criminal falsehood; a falsehood uttered for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth. Fiction, or a false statement or representation, not intended to deceive, mislead or injure, as in fables, parables and the like, is not a lie.
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.
2. A fiction; in a ludicrous sense.
3. False doctrine. 1 John 2.
4. An idolatrous picture of God, or a false god. Romans 1.
5. That which deceives and disappoints confidence.
Micah 1.
To give the lie, to charge with falsehood. A man's actions may give the lie to his words.
LIE, v.i.
1. To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive, or with an immoral design.
Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. Acts 5.
2. 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.
LIE, v.i. pret. lay; pp. lain, [lien, obs.] [The Gr. word usually signifies to speak, which is to utter or throw out sounds. Hence to lie down is to throw one's self down, and probably lie and lay are of one family, as are jacio and jacceo, in Latin.]
1. To be in a horizontal position, or nearly so, and to rest on any thing lengthwise, and not on the end. Thus a person lies on a bed, and a fallen tree on the ground. A cask stands on its end, but lies on its side.
2. To rest in an inclining posture; to lean; as, to lie on or against a column.
3. To rest; to press on.
4. To be reposited in the grave.
All the kings of the earth, even all of them, lie in glory.
Isaiah 14.
5. To rest on a bed or couch; to be prostrate; as, to lie sick.
My little daughter lieth at the point of death. Mark 5.
6. To be situated. New Haven lies in the forty second degree of north latitude. Ireland lies west of England.
Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.
7. To be; to rest; to abide; to remain; often followed by some word denoting a particular 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.
8. To consist.
He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising of the huntsman.
9. To be sustainable in law; to be capable of being maintained. An action lies against the tenant for waste.
An appeal lies in this case.
To lie at, to tease or importune. [Little used.]
To lie at the heart, to be fixed as an object of affection or anxious desire.
1. To lie by, to be reposited, or remaining with. He has the manuscript lying by him.
2. To rest; to intermit labor. We lay by during the heat of the day.
To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment. Remove the objections that lie in the way of an amicable adjustment.
To lie hard or heavy, to press; to oppress; to burden.
To lie on hand, to be or remain in possession; to remain unsold or undisposed of.
Great quantities of wine lie on hand, or have lain long on hand.
To lie on the hands, to remain unoccupied or unemployed; to be tedious. Men are sometimes at a loss to know how to employ the time that lies on their hands.
To lie on the head, to be imputed.
What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head.
To lie in wait, to wait for in concealment; to lie in ambush; to watch for an opportunity to attack or seize.
To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to.
As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Romans 41.
To lie down, to lay the body on the ground or other level place; also, to go to rest.
To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young.
To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by.
To lie on or upon, to be a matter of obligation or duty. It lies on the plaintiff to maintain his action.
1. To lie with, to lodge or sleep with; also, to have carnal knowledge of.
2. To belong to. It lies with you to make amends.
To lie over, to remain unpaid, after the time when payment is due; as a note in bank.
To lie to, to be stationary, as a ship.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth [syn: lie, prevarication]
2: Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968) [syn: Lie, Trygve Lie, Trygve Halvden Lie]
3: position or manner in which something is situated v
1: be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
2: be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position; "The sick man lay in bed all day"; "the books are lying on the shelf" [ant: sit, sit down, stand, stand up]
3: originate (in); "The problems dwell in the social injustices in this country" [syn: dwell, consist, lie, lie in]
4: be and remain in a particular state or condition; "lie dormant"
5: tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive; "Don't lie to your parents"; "She lied when she told me she was only 29"
6: have a place in relation to something else; "The fate of Bosnia lies in the hands of the West"; "The responsibility rests with the Allies" [syn: lie, rest]
7: assume a reclining position; "lie down on the bed until you feel better" [syn: lie down, lie] [ant: arise, get up, rise, stand up, uprise]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Jonas 1833-1908 Norwegian novelist & dramatist II. biographical name Trygve Halvdan 1896-1968 Norwegian lawyer; secretary-general of U.N. (1946-52)

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb (lay; lain; lying) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English licgan; akin to Old High German ligen to lie, Latin lectus bed, Greek lechos Date: before 12th century 1. a. to be or to stay at rest in a horizontal position ; be prostrate ; rest, recline <lie motionless> <lie asleep> b. to assume a horizontal position — often used with down c. archaic to reside temporarily ; stay for the night ; lodge d. to have sexual intercourse — used with with e. to remain inactive (as in concealment) <lie in wait> 2. to be in a helpless or defenseless state <the town lay at the mercy of the invaders> 3. of an inanimate thing to be or remain in a flat or horizontal position upon a broad support <books lying on the table> 4. to have direction ; extend <the route lay to the west> 5. a. to occupy a certain relative place or position <hills lie behind us> b. to have a place in relation to something else <the real reason lies deeper> c. to have an effect through mere presence, weight, or relative position <remorse lay heavily on him> d. to be sustainable or admissible 6. to remain at anchor or becalmed 7. a. to have place ; exist <the choice lay between fighting or surrendering> b. consist, belong <the success of the book lies in its direct style> <responsibility lay with the adults> 8. remain; especially to remain unused, unsought, or uncared for Usage: see lay • lier noun II. noun Date: 1697 1. chiefly British lay 6 2. the position or situation in which something lies <a golf ball in a difficult lie> 3. the haunt of an animal (as a fish) ; covert 4. British an act or instance of lying or resting III. verb (lied; lying) Etymology: Middle English, from Old English l?ogan; akin to Old High German liogan to lie, Old Church Slavic l?gati Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive 2. to create a false or misleading impression transitive verb to bring about by telling lies <lied his way out of trouble> Synonyms: lie, prevaricate, equivocate, palter, fib mean to tell an untruth. lie is the blunt term, imputing dishonesty <lied about where he had been>. prevaricate softens the bluntness of lie by implying quibbling or confusing the issue <during the hearings the witness did his best to prevaricate>. equivocate implies using words having more than one sense so as to seem to say one thing but intend another <equivocated endlessly in an attempt to mislead her inquisitors>. palter implies making unreliable statements of fact or intention or insincere promises <a swindler paltering with his investors>. fib applies to a telling of a trivial untruth <fibbed about the price of the new suit>. IV. noun Etymology: Middle English lige, lie, from Old English lyge; akin to Old High German lug?, Old English l?ogan to lie Date: before 12th century 1. a. an assertion of something known or believed by the speaker to be untrue with intent to deceive b. an untrue or inaccurate statement that may or may not be believed true by the speaker 2. something that misleads or deceives 3. a charge of lying

Britannica Concise

Norwegian novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Visionary or Pictures from Nordland (1870), with his wife's collaboration. Later novels include The Barque "Future" (1872), One of Life's Slaves (1883), and the classic The Family at Gilje (1883), which deals with the position of women. He sought to reflect in his writings the nature, folk life, and social spirit of his country. With H. Ibsen, B. Bjø rnson, and Alexander Kielland (1849-1906), he is considered one of "the four great ones" of 19th-cent. Norwegian literature..First secretary-general of the United Nations (1946-52). Educated in law at the Univ. of Kristiania (Oslo), Lie was active in the Norwegian Labor Party before being appointed foreign minister of Norway's government-in-exile during World War II. As a member of the Norwegian delegation to the U.N. Conference on International Organization (1945), he helped draft the provisions for the United Nations Security Council. As secretary-general, he helped coax Soviet troops out of Iran and dealt with the first Arab-Israeli war and the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir. The Soviet Union stopped cooperating with him when he supported U.N. intervention in the Korean War, and his effectiveness was further hampered by the strident anticommunism of the postwar U.S. He resigned in 1952.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v.intr. (lying; past lay; past part. lain) 1 be in or assume a horizontal position on a supporting surface; be at rest on something. 2 (of a thing) rest flat on a surface (snow lay on the ground). 3 (of abstract things) remain undisturbed or undiscussed etc. (let matters lie). 4 a be kept or remain or be in a specified, esp. concealed, state or place (lie hidden; lie in wait; malice lay behind those words; they lay dying; the books lay unread; the money is lying in the bank). b (of abstract things) exist, reside; be in a certain position or relation (foll. by in, with, etc.: the answer lies in education; my sympathies lie with the family). 5 a be situated or stationed (the village lay to the east; the ships are lying off the coast). b (of a road, route, etc.) lead (the road lies over mountains). c be spread out to view (the desert lay before us). 6 (of the dead) be buried in a grave. 7 (foll. by with) archaic have sexual intercourse. 8 Law be admissible or sustainable (the objection will not lie). 9 (of a game-bird) not rise. --n. 1 a the way or direction or position in which a thing lies. b Golf the position of a golf ball when about to be struck. 2 the place of cover of an animal or a bird. Phrases and idioms: as far as in me lies to the best of my power. let lie not raise (a controversial matter etc.) for discussion etc. lie about (or around) be left carelessly out of place. lie ahead be going to happen; be in store. lie back recline so as to rest. lie down assume a lying position; have a short rest. lie-down n. a short rest. lie down under accept (an insult etc.) without protest. lie heavy cause discomfort or anxiety. lie in 1 remain in bed in the morning. 2 archaic be brought to bed in childbirth. lie-in n. a prolonged stay in bed in the morning. lie in state (of a deceased great personage) be laid in a public place of honour before burial. lie low 1 keep quiet or unseen. 2 be discreet about one's intentions. lie off Naut. stand some distance from shore or from another ship. the lie of the land the current state of affairs. lie over be deferred. lie to Naut. come almost to a stop facing the wind. lie up (of a ship) go into dock or be out of commission. lie with (often foll. by to + infin.) be the responsibility of (a person) (it lies with you to answer). take lying down (usu. with neg.) accept (defeat, rebuke, etc.) without resistance or protest etc. Etymology: OE licgan f. Gmc 2. n. & v. --n. 1 an intentionally false statement (tell a lie; pack of lies). 2 imposture; false belief (live a lie). --v.intr. & tr. (lies, lied, lying) 1 intr. a tell a lie or lies (they lied to me). b (of a thing) be deceptive (the camera cannot lie). 2 tr. (usu. refl.; foll. by into, out of) get (oneself) into or out of a situation by lying (lied themselves into trouble; lied my way out of danger). Phrases and idioms: give the lie to serve to show the falsity of (a supposition etc.). lie-detector an instrument for determining whether a person is telling the truth by testing for physiological changes considered to be symptomatic of lying. Etymology: OE lyge leogan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lie Lie, v. i. [imp. Lay (l[=a]); p. p. Lain (l[=a]n), (Lien (l[imac]"[e^]n), Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Lying.] [OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG. ligen, licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth. ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. le`chos bed, le`xasqai to lie. Cf. Lair, Law, Lay, v. t., Litter, Low, adj.] 1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; -- often with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin. The watchful traveler . . . Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. --Dryden. 2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port. 3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves; the paper does not lie smooth on the wall. 4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; -- with in. Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. --Collier. He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen. --Locke. 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. 6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest. The wind is loud and will not lie. --Shak. 7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. ``An appeal lies in this case.'' --Parsons. Note: Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. 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 incorrectly, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie. To lie along the shore (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in sight. To lie at the door of, to be imputable to; as, the sin, blame, etc., lies at your door. To lie at the heart, to be an object of affection, desire, or anxiety. --Sir W. Temple. To lie at the mercy of, to be in the power of. To lie by. (a) To remain with; to be at hand; 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 hard or heavy, to press or weigh; to bear hard. To lie in, to be in childbed; 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 lie on or upon. (a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the result. (b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on. To lie low, to remain in concealment or inactive. [Slang] To lie on hand, To lie on one's hands, to remain unsold or unused; as, the goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much time lying 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 stop or delay; especially, to head as near the wind as possible as being the position of greatest safety in a gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. To bring to, under Bring. 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 sexual intercourse with. (c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lie Lie, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lied (l[imac]d); p. pr. & vb. n. Lying (l[imac]"[i^]ng).] [OE. lien, li[yogh]en, le[yogh]en, leo[yogh]en, AS. le['o]gan; akin to D. liegen, OS. & OHG. liogan, G. l["u]gen, Icel. lj[=u]ga, Sw. ljuga, Dan. lyve, Goth. liugan, Russ. lgate.] To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to say or do that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lie Lie (l[imac]), n. See Lye.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lie Lie (l[imac]), n. [AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. l["u]ge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. l["o]gn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood.] 1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive. The proper notion of a lie is an endeavoring to deceive another by signifying that to him as true, which we ourselves think not to be so. --S. Clarke. 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. 2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. --Dryden. 3. Anything which misleads or disappoints. Wishing this lie of life was o'er. --Trench. To give the lie to. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give the lie to his words. White lie, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling. Syn: Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception. Usage: Lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lie Lie (l[imac]), n. The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land or country. --J. H. Newman. He surveyed with his own eyes . . . the lie of the country on the side towards Thrace. --Jowett (Thucyd.).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lye Lye, n. [Written also lie and ley.] [AS. le['a]h; akin to D. loog, OHG. louga, G. lauge; cf. Icel. laug a bath, a hot spring.] A strong caustic alkaline solution of potassium salts, obtained by leaching wood ashes. It is much used in making soap, etc.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

I. POSITION OR SITUATION (lies, lying, lay, lain) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. Please look at category 8 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword. 1. If you are lying somewhere, you are in a horizontal position and are not standing or sitting. There was a child lying on the ground... He lay awake watching her for a long time. VERB: V prep/adv, V adj 2. If an object lies in a particular place, it is in a flat position in that place. ...a newspaper lying on a nearby couch... Broken glass lay scattered on the carpet. VERB: V prep/adv, V adj 3. If you say that a place lies in a particular position or direction, you mean that it is situated there. The islands lie at the southern end of the Kurile chain. = sit VERB: V prep/adv 4. You can use lie to say that something is or remains in a particular state or condition. For example, if something lies forgotten, it has been and remains forgotten. The picture lay hidden in the archives for over 40 years... His country's economy lies in ruins. V-LINK: V adj, V prep 5. You can use lie to say what position a competitor or team is in during a competition. (mainly BRIT) I was going well and was lying fourth... Blyth Tait is lying in second place. VERB: V ord, V in n 6. You can talk about where something such as a problem, solution, or fault lies to say what you think it consists of, involves, or is caused by. The problem lay in the large amounts spent on defence... VERB: V prep/adv 7. You use lie in expressions such as lie ahead, lie in store, and lie in wait when you are talking about what someone is going to experience in the future, especially when it is something unpleasant or difficult. She'd need all her strength and bravery to cope with what lay in store... The President's most serious challenges lie ahead. VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv 8. to lie in state: see state to take something lying down: see take II. THINGS THAT ARE NOT TRUE (lies, lying, lied) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A lie is something that someone says or writes which they know is untrue. 'Who else do you work for?'—'No one.'—'That's a lie.'... I've had enough of your lies... All the boys told lies about their adventures. N-COUNT see also white lie 2. If someone is lying, they are saying something which they know is not true. I know he's lying... If asked, he lies about his age... She lied to her husband so she could meet her lover... He reportedly called her 'a lying little twit'. VERB: V, V about n, V to n, V-ing • lying Lying is something that I will not tolerate. 3. If you say that something lies, you mean that it does not express or represent something accurately. The camera can sometimes lie. VERB: V 4. see also lying

Easton's Bible Dictionary

an intentional violation of the truth. Lies are emphatically condemned in Scripture (John 8:44; 1 Tim. 1:9, 10; Rev. 21:27; 22:15). Mention is made of the lies told by good men, as by Abraham (Gen. 12:12, 13; 20:2), Isaac (26:7), and Jacob (27:24); also by the Hebrew midwives (Ex. 1:15-19), by Michal (1 Sam. 19:14), and by David (1 Sam. 20:6). (See ANANIAS.)

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Falsehood, malicious or deliberate falsification, intentional untruth, criminal falsehood, suggestio falsi, suppressio veri, fib (humorous euphemism). 2. Delusion, illusion, fleeting show. II. v. n. 1. Falsify, fib, tell a lie. 2. Recline, lie, couch, lie down, be prostrate, be recumbent. 3. Be placed, be laid. 4. Be, rest, remain. 5. Be situated, be located. 6. Consist. 7. (Law.) Be sustainable.

Foolish Dictionary

A very poor substitute for the truth but the only one discovered up to date.

Moby Thesaurus

aim, aspect, attitude, azimuth, be found, be located, be met with, be present, be situated, be there, be untruthful, bearing, bearings, beguile, bent, blague, bouncer, canard, carry, celestial navigation, cheat, cock-and-bull story, course, cover, crawl, current, dead reckoning, deceitfulness, deceive, delude, direction, direction line, dishonesty, distort, distortion, draw the longbow, drift, dwell in, encompass, environ, equivocate, evade, exaggerate, exaggeration, exist, exposure, extend, fable, fairy tale, falsehood, falsification, falsify, falsity, farfetched story, farrago, fib, fiction, fish story, fix, flam, flimflam, forgery, fraudulence, frontage, ghost story, go, go out, grovel, half-truth, heading, helmsmanship, hold, inaccuracy, inclination, indwell, inhere, inveracity, lay, legal fiction, libel, lie athwart, lie down, lie flat, lie flatly, lie in, lie limply, lie prone, lie prostrate, line, line of direction, line of march, line of position, little white lie, loll, lounge, mendacity, misguide, misinform, misinstruct, mislead, misrepresentation, misstate, misstatement, myth, navigation, occur, orientation, palter, perjury, pilotage, piloting, pious fiction, point, position, position line, prevaricate, prevarication, quarter, radio bearing, range, reach, reach out, recline, remain, repose, reside, rest, ride, ride at anchor, ride easy, ride hawse full, run, set, shift, shift about, slight stretching, song and dance, span, speak falsely, sprawl, spread, stand, steerage, steering, story, straddle, stretch, stretch out, stretch the truth, surround, sweep, take in, tale, tall story, tall tale, taradiddle, tell a lie, tendency, tenor, thrust out, track, trend, trumped-up story, untruth, way, white lie, yarn