as in to ambush
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise
a lonely stretch of highway along which unsuspecting tourists are often waylaid by gangs
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Examples of waylay in a Sentence
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Subway travel in Brooklyn was briefly waylaid when a tree fell onto the tracks of the N train near the Eighth Ave.
—
Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2024
Meanwhile, federal legislation that could steer billions of dollars into modernizing the patchwork 911 system remains waylaid in Congress.
—Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY, 16 July 2024
But that project appears to have been waylaid by delays.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 15 July 2024
Relations never really moved to the next phase, as further progress was waylaid by frictions over missile defense, NATO’s war in Libya, the civil war in Syria, and a host of repressive measures that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime directed at its own citizens.
—Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2014
See all Example Sentences for waylay 
Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2024
Meanwhile, federal legislation that could steer billions of dollars into modernizing the patchwork 911 system remains waylaid in Congress.
—Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY, 16 July 2024
But that project appears to have been waylaid by delays.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 15 July 2024
Relations never really moved to the next phase, as further progress was waylaid by frictions over missile defense, NATO’s war in Libya, the civil war in Syria, and a host of repressive measures that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime directed at its own citizens.
—Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2014
See all Example Sentences for waylay
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Cite this Entry
“Waylay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waylay. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.
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