Definition of "lie"

lie¹

/laɪ̯/

verb
third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay or laid, past participle lain or laid or lien
1. (intransitive) To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
  Quotations
  Though ye haue lien among the pots, yet shall yee bee as the wings of a doue, couered with siluer, and her feathers with yellow gold.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 68:13
  The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.
  1660, [John] Dryden, Astraea Redux
  Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go.
  1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
  The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.
  1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid
2. (intransitive) To be placed or situated.
  Quotations
  Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
  1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, page vii
  From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
  2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52
3. (intransitive, copulative) To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
  Quotations
  Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.
  c. 1690, Jeremy Collier, Of Envy
  He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labour, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.
  1693, [John Locke], “§2016”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […]
5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
  Quotations
  And it came to passe after these things, that his masters wife cast her eyes vpon Ioseph, and shee said, Lie with me.
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Genesis 39:7
6. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
7. (archaic) To lodge; to sleep.
  Quotations
  While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, […] where I lay one night only.
  1632, John Evelyn, diary, entry 21 October 1632
  Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.
  1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850
8. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
  Quotations
  The Wind is lowd, and will not lie till the Ship be cleard of the dead.
  c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon, […], published 1609, [Act III, scene i]
9. (law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
  Quotations
  An appeal lies in this case from the ordinary to the arches.
  1737, Cart against Marsh (legal case)
noun
plural lies
1. (golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the ball before it is struck.
2. (disc golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the disc before it is thrown.
3. (medicine) The position of a fetus in the womb.
4. A manner of lying; relative position.
5. An animal's lair.

lie²

/laɪ̯/

verb
third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past and past participle lied
1. (intransitive) To give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.
2. (intransitive) To convey a false image or impression.
3. (intransitive, colloquial) To be mistaken or unintentionally spread false information.

lie³

/laɪ̯/

noun
plural lies
1. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.
2. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true.
3. (by extension) Anything that misleads or disappoints.
  Quotations
  Wishing this lie of life was o'er.
  1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, the Story of Justin Martyr
  The cake is a lie.
  2007, Erik Wolpaw, Chet Faliszek, Portal

Definition of "lie"

lie1

verb

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noun

lie2

verb

lie3

noun

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lie¹

lie²

lie³