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Any beetle of the family Elateridæ, having the habit, when laid on the back, of giving a sudden upward spring, by a quick movement of the articulation between the abdomen and thorax; -- called also click beetle, spring beetle, and snapping beetle.

Inlay; inlaid or mosaic work; something ornamental inserted in a surface. [Obs.] Milton.

Having to do with inlaid work; -- especially used with reference to work of the ancient Greeks.

e space between being filled with broken stone and mortar. Cross layers of stone are interlaid as binders. [R.] Weale.

To lay enamel upon; to decorate with enamel whether inlaid or painted.

nto a trance; to make insensible to present objects. Him, still entranced and in a litter laid, They bore from field and to the bed conveyed. Dryden.

A massive piece of stone or wood laid immediately on the abacus of the capital of a column or pillar; -- now called architrave.

stem in the United States. Abbot. An excise . . . is a fixed, absolute, and direct charge laid on merchandise, products, or commodities. 11 Allen's (Mass. ) Rpts.

ecution; a person exempt from jury service. True nobility is exempt from fear. Shak. T is laid on all, not any one exempt. Dryden.

To be laid out, used, or consumed.

That which is expended, laid out, or consumed; cost; outlay; charge; -- sometimes with the notion of loss or damage to those on whom the expense falls; as, the expenses of war; an expense of time. Courting popularity at his party's expense. Brougham.

The state of being exposed, laid open, or unprotected; as, an exposedness to sin or temptation.

The state of being exposed or laid open or bare; openness to danger; accessibility to anything that may affect, especially detrimentally; as, exposure to observation, to cold to inconvenience. When we have our naked frailties hid, That suffer in exposure. Shak.

and firm; firmness; fixedness; security; faithfulness. All . . . places of fastness [are] laid open. Sir J. Davies.

To be anxious or solicitous for. [R.] The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children, therefore . . . I fear you. Shak.

The unlaid or ragged end of a rope. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

An authoritative command or order to do something; an effectual decree. His fiat laid the corner stone. Willis.

A species of tax upon personal property formerly laid on towns, boroughs, etc., in England, being one fifteenth part of what the personal property in each town, etc., had been valued at. Burrill.

ver, the latter metal being driven off afterward by heat. -- Fire gilt (Fine Arts), gold laid on by the process of fire gilding. -- Fire insurance, the act or system of insuring against fire; also, a contract by which an insurance company undertakes, in consideration of the payment of a premium or small percentage --…

level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed. What ruins kingdoms, and lays cities flat! Milton. I feel . . . my hopes all flat. Milton.