1
as in to enact
to put into effect through legislative or authoritative action
the city council promises to lay down new ordinances that will force dog walkers to clean up after their animals
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to declare
to state clearly and strongly
at the risk of their popularity, the parents laid down the rules for the party and wouldn't accept any arguments
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to specify
to give the rules about (something) clearly and exactly
the supervisor laid down the procedure for a complaint of sexual harassment
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4
as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
commanded the surrounded troops to lay down their weapons
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lay down
Recordings of key interviews and the group diligently laying down tracks in the studio are also peppered throughout the film.
—
Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and prime minister, , has laid down Palestinian rights and a road map to a Palestinian state as a condition of normalization.
—Ellie Cook, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
The next four years will give Trump an opportunity to lay down his marker as one of America’s greatest presidents.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 17 Jan. 2025
Before heading out, Jackie lays down some strict ground rules for Heavenly, including a no-profanity policy.
—Shelby Stewart, Essence, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for lay down 
Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 24 Jan. 2025
Saudi Arabia's crown prince and prime minister, , has laid down Palestinian rights and a road map to a Palestinian state as a condition of normalization.
—Ellie Cook, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
The next four years will give Trump an opportunity to lay down his marker as one of America’s greatest presidents.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 17 Jan. 2025
Before heading out, Jackie lays down some strict ground rules for Heavenly, including a no-profanity policy.
—Shelby Stewart, Essence, 27 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for lay down
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lay down
Verb
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Some states are already making moves President Biden’s administration largely blocked states from enacting work rules of their own and required 10 states to remove the requirement for Medicaid coverage.—
Amanda Seitz,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Feb. 2025
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The Ivanhoe grant marked only the latest fallout in the Kansas City metro from the wave of spending cuts and reductions enacted since President Donald Trump took office.—
Jonathan Shorman,
Kansas City Star,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Although its exact origins are unclear, the quote is often attributed to Napoleon, the French general who effectively declared himself emperor in the early 1800s.—
Alexandra Hutzler,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2025
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There also was little pushback from the church in Rome: not until the late 1880's, Murphy said, would the Pope definitively declare slavery to be morally wrong.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA TODAY,
17 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Though the picture's caption doesn't specify the aircraft's destination, the local Arizona outlet ABC15 News reported that the migrants were deported to Guatemala.—
Hannah Hudnall,
USA TODAY,
7 Feb. 2025
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The charge specifies that the suspect targeted either a single victim or one or more members of a single household, with the knowledge or reason to believe that his actions would cause terrorization under the circumstances.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Trump is especially bitter that President Carter, in 1977, entered into agreement with Panama to relinquish control of the canal by the year 1999.—
Tracy Wilkinson,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2025
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Ellis hired his previous CBS Records colleague Gregg Geller, who José promptly put in charge of the Elvis Presley catalog, moving it over from Nashville, where Joe Galante was only too happy to relinquish it after the sales spike from Presley’s death in 1977 had cooled off.—
Roy Trakin,
The Hollywood Reporter,
8 Feb. 2025
Verb
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In Nashville, Tennessee, city officials passed ordinances aimed at muffling extremist activity after more frequent demonstrations by such groups, including an instance in July when demonstrators rushed the council chambers, forcing closure of the gallery.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA TODAY,
18 Feb. 2025
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Naturally, given his wide array of skills, there were four answers pertaining to him: his passing, shot, hockey sense and puck protection.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
The Athletic,
17 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The senator asserted that five years after winning World War II, the U.S. was losing around the globe, locked in a struggle with communism that seemed destined to end in nuclear conflict.—
Made by History,
TIME,
9 Feb. 2025
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Similarly, the challengers in the ICE enforcement case assert that DHS was required to, but did not, explain its change after 30 years of congregants relying on places of worship as a refuge from ICE operations.—
Christina Gatti,
NPR,
8 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The 2025 summit in Paris, governments and AI companies agreed at the time, would be the place to define red-lines for AI: risk thresholds that would require mitigations at the international level.—
Billy Perrigo/Paris,
TIME,
11 Feb. 2025
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All of that information goes into the agency’s computers, which process the data to begin defining what’s going on in different parts of the atmosphere.—
Christine Wiedinmyer,
The Conversation,
11 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Nonetheless, an underperforming album or run of singles can render even seemingly infallible artists to the khia asylum – like, say, post-Radical Optimism Dua Lipa.—
Kyle Denis,
Billboard,
11 Feb. 2025
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In comparison, Steel Nomad's regular (4K) and Light (1440p) subtests focus on APIs more commonly used for game development, like Metal, DirectX 12, and Vulkan, to assess gaming geometry and particle rendering speeds.—
Matthew Buzzi,
PCMAG,
10 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Lay down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lay%20down. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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