lie Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
    prevarication.
  2. noun Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968)
    Trygve Lie; Trygve Halvden Lie.
  3. noun position or manner in which something is situated
  4. verb be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
  5. verb be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position
    • The sick man lay in bed all day
    • the books are lying on the shelf
  6. verb originate (in)
    dwell; lie in; consist.
    • The problems dwell in the social injustices in this country
  7. verb be and remain in a particular state or condition
    • lie dormant
  8. verb tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive
    • Don't lie to your parents
    • She lied when she told me she was only 29
  9. verb have a place in relation to something else
    rest.
    • The fate of Bosnia lies in the hands of the West
    • The responsibility rests with the Allies
  10. verb assume a reclining position
    lie down.
    • lie down on the bed until you feel better

WordNet

Lie noun
Definitions
  1. See Lye.
Lie noun
Etymology
AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. lüge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood.
Definitions
  1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive.
    It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road. Paley.
  2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. Dryden.
  3. Anything which misleads or disappoints.
    Wishing this lie of life was o'er. Trench.
    Syn. -- Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception. -- lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity.
Lie intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. lien, lien, leen, leoen, AS. leógan; akin to D. liegen, OS. & OHG. liogan, G. lügen, Icel. ljga, Sw. ljuga, Dan.lyve, Goth. liugan, Russ. lgate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Lied ; present participle & verbal noun Lying
Definitions
  1. To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to say or do that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation.
Lie intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG. ligen, licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth. ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. bed, to lie. Cf. Lair, Law, Lay, v. t., Litter, Low, adj.
Wordforms
imperfect Lay ; past participle Lain (Lien [obsolete ]); present participle & verbal noun Lying
Definitions
  1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; -- often with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin.
    The watchful traveler . . . Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. Dryden.
  2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port.
  3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; 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. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; -- with in.
    Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. Collier.
    He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen. Locke.
  5. To lodge; to sleep.
    Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . . . where I lay one night only. Evelyn.
    Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. Dickens.
  6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
    The wind is loud and will not lie. Shak.
  7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. "An appeal lies in this case." Parsons. ✍ Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie.
Lie noun
Definitions
  1. The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land or country. J. H. Newman.
    He surveyed with his own eyes . . . the lie of the country on the side towards Thrace. Jowett (Thucyd.).

Webster 1913