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Glite Dictionary
layby

layby

1 7.5
A paved area beside a main road where vehicles stop briefly
  • noun
  • /ˈleɪbaɪ/
  • UK
: área de descanso
  • There is a layby near the highway where tired drivers can take a break.

Examples

  • The bus pulled over to the layby to let passengers off.

  • - Can we pull over and make love in a layby?

    Full Love (2010)

  • I stopped at the layby to check my phone for directions.

Synonyms

rest stop
vslayby
  • US
28 1.8

A place beside a road where people stop to rest, use toilets, or buy food

is the basic roadside area used for brief vehicle stopping, not focused on services
rest area
vslayby
  • US
8 1.6

A place beside a highway where drivers stop to rest and use toilets

is the simple paved roadside spot without emphasis on extra facilities
pull-off
vslayby
  • US
1 3.8

A paved area beside a main road where cars can stop briefly

is the standard designated paved area rather than an informal stopping place
lay-by
vslayby
  • UK
1 5.9

A paved area beside a main road where vehicles stop briefly to rest or in an emergency

is the same meaning but spelled without a hyphen in the other form

Surface Forms

layby singular
laybys plural

Morphology

layby = lay (transparent) = by + lay

Formed as a compound of 'lay' (to place/stop) + 'by' (at the side), so the meaning 'a place at the side of the road to stop' follows directly from the components. [Postprocessing: moved 'by' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Layby comes from the simple words lay and by, where lay means 'to place' and by means 'at the side'. So a layby is a spot 'placed at the side' of the road where vehicles can stop for a short time.