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Glite Dictionary
🗞️ To cover 🛬 To stop during travel
to lay over

to lay over

3 3.5
To put one thing on top of another so it partly covers it
  • phrasal verb
  • /leɪ ˈoʊvər/
translation icon : poner encima
  • Carefully, he laid a cold cloth over a bruise at her temple.
  • laid a hand over
  • laid slices over
  • laid a cloth over

You'll trace your desired shape in the block of wood, cut that out, and then you're going to take another wood, lay that over your cut piece and trace a handle.

Examples

  • Jellie took off her stocking cap and laid her coat over the back of a chair.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Ross was able to step forward and gently lay the covering over her.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • We'll lay our sleeping bags over the top.

    Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (2011)

  • Lay the rag over his eyes.

    The Revenant (2015)

  • The bathroom door was open, and shards of glass lay all over the tiles in front of the toilet.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I unfolded a rug, and we laid it over our legs and turned off the headlights.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I couldn't budge you, so I just laid a quilt over you and left you on the hearth.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Oliver hovers as Hana adds the rice to a small cache of provisions, then lays another blanket over the patient.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Please lay the blanket over the table to keep it clean.

  • She laid the photographs over the paper to create a collage.

Synonyms

to cover
vsto lay over
∞ 1.0

To put something over another thing to protect or hide it

places one object on top so it hides part of the other
to blanket
vsto lay over
28 4.2

To cover something completely, for example with fog or snow

places one object on top and often only partly hides the other
to superimpose
vsto lay over
24 6.7

To put one thing on top of another so both are visible

places one object on top and may hide part of what is beneath
to spread over
vsto lay over
17 3.6

Form a layer across a surface, like fog or icing

places one object on top rather than forming a continuous layer
to overlay
vsto lay over
11 4.2

To cover something with a layer of material

places one object on top without implying a separate material layer
to superpose
vsto lay over
1 8.5

To put one thing on top of another so they line up and can be seen

places one object on top often without keeping both visible
to overspread
vsto lay over
1 7.1

Move across a surface and cover it, like mist or color

places an object on top and usually hides only part of the surface
to overwrap
vsto lay over
4.4

To cover something with an extra layer to protect it or make it look nicer

places one object on top rather than wrapping it with another layer

Antonyms

to remove
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

to uncover
37 2.7

Remove a cover to show what is under it

How Covered

to envelop
41 4.5
to cover
∞ 1.0
to drape
83 4.3
to lay over
3 3.5
to rest on
66 1.0

Surface Forms

lay over infinitive
laying over present participle
lays over third person singular
laid over past
laid over past participle

Morphology

lay + over

The meaning 'to place something on top of another object' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'lay' (to set or position something) with 'over' (indicating position on top/covering). This compositional pattern (verb + spatial particle/preposition) is common across languages and follows ordinary English usage, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Lay over comes from the literal idea of lay meaning to put and over meaning on top, like when you lay over a blanket on a child to cover them. So lay over means 'to place something on top of another object so that it covers or partly covers it'.