Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To lie in wait for and attack from ambush. See Synonyms at ambush.
- v. To accost or intercept unexpectedly.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To lie in wait for in the way, in order to lay hold of for some purpose; particularly, to lie in wait for with the view of accosting, seizing, assaulting, robbing, or slaying; take in ambush: as, to waylay a traveler.
- To beset with ambushes or ambuscades; ambuscade.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To lie in wait for and attack from ambush.
- v. transitive To accost or intercept unexpectedly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To lie in wait for; to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush.
WordNet 3.0
- v. wait in hiding to attack
Etymologies
- way + lay likely from Middle Dutch wegelagen ("besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Curtis started, to what you have called waylay him in the avenue.”
“They switched their car's headlights off and drove along another street to "waylay" the police vehicle.”
“Like Solzhenitsyn said, if the people lay in wait under staircases with sticks and kitchen knives to waylay the Cheka when they came at night, rather than hiding in their own apartments, they could have made it too costly for the Soviets to imprison and murder so many millions.”
“The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the roadside, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets.”
The woman with the twenty-dollar bill. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState
“However, given the potential pitfalls that could still waylay the markets, many strategists and investors are keeping portfolios light on the riskiest investments.”
“At the river, older street children waylay girls who come to fetch water," one boy recounts.”
“When zombies waylay you, they will not be merciful because you are helpless.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » I submit within a month…
“A body can waste time on a summers day without having to waylay quite so many resources, far better go go fishin or fling a few shafts (or rounds) downrange.”
“Neumann said his troops also protect the local population from bandits and extortionists who try to waylay travelers and exact illegal tolls.”
Gates visits with, praises hard-hit battle unit in Afghanistan
“If you cut your teeth on Katrina, nothing's going to waylay you in the future.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘waylay’.
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EN - archaic words
abide, abjure, abroad, adamant, afield, aforetime, aghast, anon, apace, argent, assuage, aught and 328 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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general search words
words when I found them in the articles
benign, pantomime, deregulation, regressive, morose, staid, mercurial, temperament, ludicrous, fallacy, discord, afloat and 17 more...
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list01
I HEART MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!
clitoridectomy, pneumonoultramicr..., deipnosophist, zenana, quadragintesimal, lampadedromy, fundus, karyokinesis, machicolation, plasmapherisis, entomophagous, oxyopia and 36 more...
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slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
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Good Words
fenestering, cetic, immanent, quickening, archetypal, shibboleth, soma, wetware, heritable, Apotheosis, halcyon, cellar door and 482 more...
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Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young ...
These words are from Samuel Richardson's novel Clarissa, Or, The History of a Young Lady, 1747-48
adumbrate, virago, varlet, rencounter, akimbo, palliate, amanuensis, amok, equipage, cully, se'ennight, resentments and 560 more...
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Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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madmelanie's Words
monkey, folderol, snark, snarky, flibbertigibbet, faith, asshat, pirouette, avuncular, exegesis, memento mori, verisimilitude and 379 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for waylay.
bilby "The women, who hold wicker baskets filled with flowers and incense, are out to waylay tourists and to entice them into buying the blooms and scents."
- Jacob Heilbrunn, 'Mao More Than Ever', New Republic, 21 April 1997. Oct 15, 2008
ofravens His voice waylays me, spells a trance
from "Pursuit," by Sylvia Plath Apr 8, 2008
bilby Ah, Dim-sim Syndrome. Dec 10, 2007
sonofgroucho Is it just me, or does this word have a Chinese feel to it? Dec 10, 2007
minerva Your brother having been assured that you are not married, has taken a resolution to find you out, way-lay you and carry you off.
Anna Howe to Clarissa Harlowe, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson Dec 10, 2007
rolig I usually think of this verb in its passive participle form: I haven't finished the work I promised because I was waylaid by another impatient client with an even more pressing deadline.
I like the word because it conjures up such a vivid image of being attacked while one is trying to get somewhere. Nov 30, 2007