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Of or pertaining to the laity, as distinct from the clergy; as, a lay person; a lay preacher; a lay brother.

A layman authorized to read parts of the public service of the church.

A secondary shaft, as in a sliding change gear for an automobile; a cam shaft operated by a two-to-one gear in an internal- combustion engine. It is generally a shaft moving more or less independently of the other parts of a machine, as, in some marine engines, a shaft, driven by a small auxiliary engine, for independe…

One who, or that which, lays.

A propagating by layers. Gardner.

The outfit of clothing, blankets, etc., prepared for a newborn infant, and placed ready for used.

The act of one who, or that which, lays.

Land lying untilled; fallow ground. [Obs.] Blount.

an not belonging to some particular profession, in distinction from those who do. Being a layman, I ought not to have concerned myself with speculations which belong to the profession. Dryden.

A whiplash. [Obs.]

The condition of being a layman. [Obs.] Milton.

place where rubbish, dung, etc., are laid or deposited.[Obs.] B. Jonson. Smithfield was a laystall of all ordure and filth. Bacon.

To make quiet or put at rest; to pacify or appease; to quell; to calm; as, to allay popular excitement; to allay the tumult of the passions.

One who, or that which, allays.

An allaying; that which allays; mitigation. [Obs.] The like allayment could I give my grief. Shak.

A protecting ruffle or frill, as of silk or lace, sewed close to the lower edge of a skirt on the inside.

To lay on or cover; to adorn. [Obs.] Jacket . . . belayed with silver lace. Spenser.

side of a vessel, or by the mast, round which ropes are wound when they are fastened or belayed.

A fish. See Bleak, n.

One whose pccupation is to build with bricks. Bricklayer's itch. See under Itch.