waylay

verb

way·​lay ˈwā-ˌlā 

waylaid ˈwā-ˌlād  ; waylaying; waylays

transitive verb

1

: to lie in wait for or attack (someone) from ambush

… he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of trouble yet.

—Charles Dickens

2

: to temporarily stop the movement or progress of (someone or something)

The barkeeper, Tony, would come out of his saloon and wait to waylay the men going home. He could always entice a man with a full pocket into his saloon.

—Meridel Le Sueur

I can get waylaid by tangential thoughts and associations in mid-sentence, and this leads to parentheses, subordinate clauses, sentences of paragraphic length. I never use one adjective if six seem to me better and, in their cumulative effect, more incisive.

—Oliver Sacks

Synonyms

• ambuscade
• ambush
• surprise
• surprize

Examples of waylay in a Sentence

Gangs sometimes waylay travelers on that road.

We were waylaid by a group of kids with water balloons.

Recent Examples on the Web

On the corporate front, the timing of the showdown has not been ideal for Paramount, whose pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media has been waylaid by complaints about CBS News by President Donald Trump. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025

Former President Joe Biden waylaid justice with a flurry of last-minute pardons of his own family members. —Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 5 Feb. 2025

The Ravens waylaid them in M&T Stadium by 25 points, the Bills’ most lopsided loss in three years. —Tim Graham, The Athletic, 13 Jan. 2025

Neeson stars as Finbar Murphy, a contract killer whose plans to hang up his gun are waylaid by a nasty bit of business with an I.R.A. faction. —Jason Bailey, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1513, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

waylay

verb

way·​lay ˈwā-ˌlā 

waylaid -ˌlād  ; waylaying

: to attack from a hiding place