• IPA: /laɪ̯/

lie (lies, present participle lying; past lay, past participle lain)

1. (intransitive) To rest#Verb|rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

   The book lies on the table;  the snow lies on the roof;  he lies in his coffin

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Psalms 68:13 ↗:

     Though ye haue lien among the pots, yet shall yee bee as the wings of a doue, couered with siluer, and her feathers with yellow gold.

   • The watchful traveller […] / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.

   • 1849, Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

     Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go.

2. (intransitive) To be place#Verb|placed or situated.
   • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:

     Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.

3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time#Noun|time; to be in a certain state#Noun|state or condition.

   to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hidden; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves

   The paper does not lie smooth on the wall.

4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.

   • Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.

   • 1693, [John Locke], “§2016”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], OCLC 1161614482 ↗:

     He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labour, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.

5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Genesis 39:7 ↗:

     And it came to passe after these things, that his masters wife cast her eyes vpon Ioseph, and shee said, Lie with me.

6. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
7. (archaic) To lodge#Verb|lodge; to sleep#Verb|sleep.

   • While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, […] where I lay one night only.

   • 1849 May – 1850 November​, Charles Dickens, chapter 10, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, OCLC 558196156 ↗:

     Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.

8. To be still#Adjective|still or quiet#Adjective|quiet, like one lying down to rest.
   • c. 1607–1608, William Shakeſpeare, The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […]‎, London: Imprinted at London for Henry Goſſon,  […], published 1609, OCLC 78596089 ↗, [Act III, scene i]:

     The Wind is loud#English|lowd, and will not lie till the Ship be cleard of the dead.

9. (legal) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.

   • An appeal lies in this case.

• lay#Etymology 1|lay, a corresponding transitive version of this word
• lees
• lier

• French: être étendu, gésir, être couché
• German: liegen
• Italian: essere sdraiato, essere disteso, ^{(please verify)} giacere (it)
• Portuguese: estar deitado, jazer
• Russian: лежа́ть
• Spanish: estar acostado, estar echado, yacer, estar tumbado

• French: trouver
• German: liegen
• Italian: trovarsi
• Portuguese: jazer, ficar, localizar-se
• Russian: располага́ться

lie (plural lies)

1. (golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the ball before it is strike#Verb|struck.
2. (disc golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the disc before it is throw#Verb|thrown.
3. (medicine) The position of a fetus in the womb.
4. A manner of lying; relative position.
5. An animal's lair.

• German: Kindslage

lie (lies, present participle lying; past and past participle lied)

1. (intransitive) To give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.

   When Pinocchio lies, his nose grows.

   If you are found to have lied in court, you could face a penalty.

   While a principle-based approach might claim that lying is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, lying might or might not be illegal or unethical. The casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to lie in legal testimony under oath, but might argue that lying actually is the best moral choice if the lie saves a life.^Casuistry

2. (intransitive) To convey a false image or impression.

   Photographs often lie.

3. (intransitive, colloquial) To be mistaken or unintentionally spread false information.

   Sorry, I haven't seen your keys anywhere...wait, I lied! They're right there on the coffee table.

• prevaricate

• French: mentir
• German: lügen, täuschen
• Italian: mentire
• Portuguese: mentir
• Russian: лгать
• Spanish: mentir

lie (plural lies)

1. An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.

   I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.

2. A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true; a half-truth
3. Anything that misleads or disappoints.

   • Wishing this lie of life was o'er.

   • The cake is a lie. - Portal

• alternative fact
• bullshit
• deception
• falsehood
• fib
• leasing
• prevarication
• See also Thesaurus:lie

• truth

• French: mensonge
• German: Lüge
• Italian: bugia, menzogna, frottola, baggianata, fola, balla, fandonia
• Portuguese: mentira
• Russian: ложь
• Spanish: mentira

1. Initialism of Long Island Expressway (I-495)

1. (attributive) Surname