to lay away
2
4.7
- phrasal verb
- /leɪ əˈweɪ/
- Don't lay away your money!
Examples
-
I will lay away some money for a new bike.
-
The store will lay away the coat until you are ready to pay the full amount.
-
Every month, she tries to lay away a portion of her salary for emergencies.
-
It's wise to lay away funds for your children's education.
-
Many shoppers prefer to lay away more expensive items until they can afford to pay for them in full.
-
She decided to lay away some money each month for her vacation next year.
-
With the holiday season approaching, he plans to lay away gifts ahead of time to avoid last-minute expenses.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Keep something for use later
485
1.0
To put something away to use later
326
1.3
To put money aside instead of spending it now
167
3.1
To keep something for a particular person or purpose
138
5.1
To hide money or things in a secret place for later
103
2.6
To put money aside little by little for something you want
83
3.4
Save money or time for a special purpose
38
4.8
To collect and keep large amounts of food or other things for future use
29
3.0
Keep something to use at a later time
19
4.9
Put something in a hidden place to use later
9
2.9
Put money aside to use if something unexpected happens
8
2.6
To put something in a safe place to use later
8
5.3
To save money or things over time, often secretly
7
2.8
Save part of something to use later
5
2.1
Keep or save something for future use
3
4.0
To get and keep extra supplies for use later
2
5.8
To hide things like food or money in a secret place for later use
1
6.7
To save money little by little to use later
1
3.5
Save money for future use
To store things like food or money so you can use them later
Antonyms
How Much
38
4.8
- Informal
19
4.9
103
2.6
2
4.7
83
3.4
1
2.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to save or set aside for future use' is directly derivable from combining 'lay' (to place or set) with 'away' (aside/for later). The compositional sense 'place something away' (= put aside) is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrasal verb lay away comes from the simple picture of putting something aside for later: to lay it down and put it away in a box, chest, or on a shelf. One common story says shops used to lay away a customer's item until they paid, so today it means 'to save or set aside' for future use.