layup

1 of 2

noun

lay·​up ˈlā-ˌəp 

1

: the action of laying up or the condition of being laid up

2

: a shot in basketball made from near the basket usually by playing the ball off the backboard

lay up

2 of 2

verb

laid up; laying up; lays up

transitive verb

1

: to store up : lay by

2

: to disable or confine with illness or injury

a knee injury laid him up for a week

3

: to take out of active service

Synonyms

Verb

• cache
• hoard
• lay away
• lay by
• lay in
• put by
• salt away
• squirrel (away)
• stash
• stockpile
• store
• stow
• treasure

Examples of layup in a Sentence

Verb

an eating disorder that would impel her to lay up candy bars in her closet for all-night food binges

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sheldon came up with a steal with less than a minute remaining in the game and raced the other way for what would’ve been a fast break layup, but Fever wing Sophie Cunningham chased Sheldon down and threw her to the ground with 46.0 seconds left. —Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 17 June 2025

Former Kansas shooting guard Johnny Furphy’s fast-break and-one layup with 54 seconds left in Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals did not go unnoticed by social media users Monday night. —Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 17 June 2025

Verb

Instead of laying up, which both players had done each of the previous playoff holes, the Australian went for it. —Kendall Capps, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 June 2025

With many players opting to lay up onto a relatively narrow fairway, the vast majority of tee shots sailed safely under it. —Jack Bantock, CNN, 14 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

layup

1 of 2 noun

lay·​up ˈlā-ˌəp 

: a basketball shot made from near the basket usually by bouncing the ball off the backboard

lay up

2 of 2 verb

1

: to store up

2

: to disable or confine with illness or injury

a knee injury laid her up for a week

3

: to take out of active service