lay low
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English
Etymology 1
Verb
lay low (third-person singular simple present lays low, present participle laying low, simple past and past participle laid low)
- (transitive) To topple or overcome; to cause to fall; (of a person) to knock out.
- He was laid low by a vicious blow to the head.
- 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit:
- The dragon's ire, more fierce than fire, laid low their towers and houses frail.
- (transitive) To put in an abject condition.
- 1979 April 28, Nancy Walker, “A Case of Mistaken Identity”, in Gay Community News, page 19:
- My lover had remained in New York with her family because she had picked up the plague, or something just as bad, that had laid her quite low.
Etymology 2
Verb
lay low (third-person singular simple present lays low, present participle laying low, simple past and past participle laid low or lay low)
- (informal, sometimes proscribed) To lie low, to be inconspicuous, especially when the potential object of search.
- 1904, A Committee of the Survivors, History of the Twelfth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, in The Civil War, page 219:
- We lay low until the shell went over and then would straighten up again.
- 1909, “Field and Stream”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 14, page 540:
- Me and Dave layed low[sic] until then, and I guess the whole dummed town was at Philemon's that night.
- 1911, Augusta Prescott, The Stairway on the Wall, page 259:
- Under you drop, and you work yourself along until you come to the partition between the two rooms; there you'll find a secret chamber; it isn't big enough for more than one person at a time, but there's a cot in it and you can lay low.
- 1917, Conrad Cato, The Navy in Mesopotamia 1914 to 1917, page 8:
- As for the Turk , he played his old game of Brer Rabbit, laying low, until the three launches came nicely round the bend into a direct line of fire.
- 1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records:
- Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
- Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
- 1997, Richard Herschlag, Brian Harris, Lay Low and Don't Make the Big Mistake, page 84:
- Since you are trying to lay low, your effort should take the form of a suggestion at the least or a modest proposal at the most.
- 2007, Ann Pancake, Strange as this Weather Has Been, page 100:
- I laid low until the boys and Chancey went off somewhere, then I snuck up the road and stopped at the gate.
- 2012, Mitt Romney, Timothy Robinson, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games:
- Bennett believed that he would lay low for a few years before bringing out another team of terrorists.
- 2012, Jane Dews, The Cuckoo's Song, page 18:
- In the meantime, he would lay low—not make waves if he could help it. He was good at not attracting attention.
- 2013, Elizabeth A. Laugeson, The PEERS® Curriculum for School Based Professionals:
- Say, “The first step for changing a reputation is to lay low. This means you need to keep a low profile for a while and not draw attention to yourself. This will give your reputation a chance to die down before you try to make friends.
- 2013, Robert Preston, A Dream To Kill:
- Jessie needed time to let things die down and decided to lay low.
- 2014, Thomas A. Whiting Jr., The Secrets That We Keep:
- Richie, I know you don't like people telling you what to do and all but I think you should lay low until we can figure this thing out.
- 2014, James Pickett Jones, Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid through Alabama and Georgia, page 138:
- We layed low[sic] until after dark, then mounted without the bugle sound.
Etymology 3
Verb
Usage notes
- The verb to lay is a transitive verb, which means it requires an object (such as an egg). In this case the word 'low' could be substituted for any prepositional phrase, such as in the straw.
- Future: 'The hen is going to lay an egg low.'
- Present: 'The hen is laying an egg low.'
- Past: 'The hen laid an egg low.'
- Past perfect: 'The hen had laid an egg low.'
- The alternation between lie low and lay low stems from the fact that the past tense of to lie (intransitive verb) is lay; whereas the past tense of to lay (transitive verb) is laid. Also, in this case lie low is an idiom so both words must be used together; this is consistent with many other idioms, such as 'hurry up,' for example.
Synonyms
- (to remain hidden): lie low