2 not in an official position in the Church     ; A

(ft: a lay preacher M — see also layman,

LAYPERSON, LAYWOMAN

mnoun 1 (taboo, informal) a partner in sex, especially a woman      ( Aft ) 143c6fJl£;A: an easy lay (= a

person who is ready and willing to have sex) 0 to be a great lay      2 (old use) a poem that

was written to be sung, usually telling a story ( il# f^Rt pl(ft )     rm the ,lay of the 'land (NAmE)

= THE LIE OF THE LAND at LIE1 n.

lay about /'leiabaut/ noun (old-fashioned, BrE, informal) a lazy person who does not do much work X 0 (ft

A; mVL;

lay away /'leiawei/ noun [U] (NAmE) a system of buying goods in a store, where the customer pays a small amount of the price for an article and the store keeps the goods until the full price has been paid

'lay-by noun 1 [C] (BrE) an area at the side of a road where vehicles may stop for a short time ]?&ji£l|§N‘#X Kft i'J ff A- A —compare rest area 2 [U] (AustralE, NZE, SAfrE) a system of paying some money for an article so that it is kept for you and you can pay the rest of the money later        You could secure

it on lay-by.

layer 0-w /'leia(r); 'lea(r); NAmE 'ler/ noun, verb

m noun 1 a quantity or thickness of sth that lies over a surface or between surfaces M; AM: A thin layer of dust covered everything.

MXo O How many layers of clothing are you wearing? ifcW 7 JIM A HR ? 2a level or part within a system or set of ideas M A; [^M: There were too many layers of management in the company,     Iljclo 0

the layers of meaning in the poem

■ verb [VN] [often passive] to arrange sth in layers ft-Xil ft: Layer the potatoes and onions in a dish. ft ± s jWMXMft&AXMo O Her hair had been layered (= cut to several different lengths).

Me — picture o hair

sponge cake

wedding cake £*$13111

layer cake noun [C, U] (especially NAmE) a cake with more than one layer, with jam, cream, etc. between the layers       ( A AH. Ml^fc )

lay ette /lei'et/ noun a set of clothes and other things for a new baby   &

lay man /'leiman/ noun (pi. -men /-man/) (also lay-per­son) 1 a person who does not have expert knowledge of a particular subject # A ik A M ; X ff; H ft : a book written for professionals and laymen alike —A0fr ft ff 18$ rT l=U (ft45 <> to explain sth in layman's terms

1145

(= in simple language) it M H W if mM M 2 a person who is a member of a Church but is not a priest or member of the clergy      ( ##?RA

M ) — see also laywoman

' lay-off noun 1 an act of making people unemployed because there is no more work left for them to do ( 0 ) t¥fiS, H H 2 a period of time when sb is not working or not doing sth that they normally do regularly itfcXAl; f^X^j: an eight-week lay-off with a broken leg 0M§P#ftifcXf£#AJij lay-out /'leiaut/ noun [usually sing.] the way in which the parts of sth such as the page of a book, a garden or a building are arranged A jU; ft; i£i+; fzW: the layout of streets ft if (ft ft ft o the magazine's attractive new page layout        ¥& ffii£i+

lay-over /'leiauva(r); NAmE -ou-/ noun (NAmE) = stop­over

lay-per-son /'lerp3:sn; NAmE -p3:rsn/ noun (also 'lay person) (pi. lay people or lay-persons) a layman or laywoman ftftikAM; ft'U\ \1 ftfk: The layperson cannot really understand mental illness. XfrXAA 7ffl

'lay-up noun 1 (in basketball M^) a shot made with one hand from under or beside the basket _h® 2 (in golf |^^^) a shot made from a difficult position to a position that will allow an easier next shot

jt£ ()

lay-woman /'leiwuman/ noun (pi. -women /-wimin/) a woman who is a member of a Church but is not a priest or a member of the clergy  ( #

ft IRA ft ) — see also layman(2), layperson Laz-a-rus /'laezaras/ noun used to refer to sb who improves or starts to be successful again after a period of failure (   A ) All]#

32# MdMWI From the story of Lazarus in the Bible. He was a man who died but was then brought back to life by Jesus Christ. M £ «£*£>

( Lazarus ) ^^(ftftAo

laze /leiz/ verb [V] - (about/around) to relax and do very little Hft; mm ffH: We lazed by the pool all day.

0 I’ve spent the afternoon just lazing around. & - T Alft Sl$ ft H# # & *T ‘k 7 , i^;l:kVj 'laze sth+-»away to spend time relaxing and doing very little    tt® ; M It 7; 'MMWt

H771 lounge : They lazed away the long summer days.

lazy 0-w /'leizi/ adj. (lazl-er, lazi-est)

1 (disapproving) unwilling to work or be active; doing as little as possible XJSX#(ft; Mftlft; HMfltt EO3 idle: He was not stupid, just lazy.        H       o

I was feeling too lazy to go out.

tb o 2 not involving much energy or activity; slow and relaxed  We spent a lazy day on

the beach.    3 (disap­proving) showing a lack of effort or care   X A6^J; IS

a lazy piece of work

4 (literary) moving slowly fTitttiff W; 1ft ## W BEC1 torpid : the lazy river it It ik '/^ W M ;Jc ► lazi-ly adv.: She woke up and stretched lazily. M ®1 A 7 A M §? o lazi ness noun [U]

lazy-bones /'leizibaunz; NAmE -bounz/ noun [sing.] (old-fashioned, informal) used to refer to a lazy person 'A; HA; H#A: Come on, lazybones, get up!

^A7!

, lazy 1 eye noun an eye that does not see well because it is not used enough ( 0AAMSW ) 31*181 ,lazy 'Susan noun a round plate or tray on a base, which can be spun around so that the objects on it can be easily reached ^    )

lb (BrE) (NAmE lb.) abbr. (pi. lb or lbs) a pound in weight, equal to about 454 grams (from Latin ‘libra’). # ( 1i &Ti& libra,         454    )

Ibw /.el bi: 'dAblju:/ abbr. (in cricket ft f*c) leg before wicket (a reason for a batsman being out (= having to stop batting), because the ball has hit his or her leg instead of hitting the bat, and would have hit the