laid up
10
5.6
- idiom
- /leɪd ʌp/
:
encamado
- I never dreamed of how it might feel to see my father laid up.
- laid up in bed
- laid up with the flu
- laid up for a month
Now, if you can picture that, that was me when I was laid up in intensive care for those six months.
- Now, if you can picture that, that was me when I was laid up in intensive care for those six months.
- And so I was, I was pretty laid up and, you know, it was definitely not an ideal time for that to happen, right?
Examples
-
Here in New York, on business relating to the Bank of England, Sir Maxwell was laid up in the hospital for nearly a week with a frightful intestinal infection.
Fiction book (1999) -
You may be laid up for weeks.
Fiction book (1993) -
How long do you expect to be laid up?
-
You know, I tried to get in touch with you when I heard, but I was laid up with this cold.
-
I'm gonna be laid up for a while.
-
I said you were laid up with the flu.
Fiction book (1997) -
But my dad got injured on the job, and he's laid up, so I got to help out.
-
He's going to be laid up for a while while his legs heal, but...
-
Look, my father fell and broke his hip down in Florida, and the doctors say there were complications in the surgery, with an infection, so he's gonna be laid up for quite a while.
-
After twisting my ankle, I was laid up for nearly a week.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Not well because of illness
20
7.2
Unable to do normal work and activities because of illness or a serious problem
16
2.6
Staying in bed for health reasons when a doctor says so
11
4.5
Unable to leave bed because of illness or injury
9
4.0
Lying on the back on the ground because someone is tired, hurt, or sick
5
8.1
Completely unable to move or continue because of extreme tiredness
1
3.9
A long time in bed because a doctor tells you to
Unable to get out of bed because of illness or weakness
Unable to get out of bed because of illness
Lying in bed because you are ill
Unable to move or act normally after illness such as an injury
Feeling slightly ill or unwell
Antonyms
How Incapacitated
259
2.3
11
4.5
10
5.6
20
7.2
18
1.0
- Informal
21
5.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
laid + up
The overall meaning 'confined to bed or unable to work' is not directly predictable from the literal constituents: 'laid' (past form of lay/place) and 'up' (which often signals motion or being awake) give conflicting cues. There is a partial link (being 'laid' suggests being placed or incapacitated) but the specific idiomatic sense of being kept in bed by illness is not transparently derivable by a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Laid up comes from the simple picture of a sick or hurt person being put into bed to rest. Being laid, or 'put down', and kept up to rest made the phrase mean 'confined to bed or unable to work' today.