Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To lie in wait for and attack from ambush. synonym: ambush.
- transitive verb To approach and speak to (a person on the way to a destination or in the middle of an activity).
- transitive verb To interrupt the course or progress of.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To lie in wait for in the way, in order to lay hold of for some purpose; particularly, to lie in wait for with the view of accosting, seizing, assaulting, robbing, or slaying; take in ambush: as, to
waylay a traveler. - To beset with ambushes or ambuscades; ambuscade.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To lie in wait for; to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To
lie inwait for andattack fromambush . - verb transitive To
accost orintercept unexpectedly.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb wait in hiding to attack
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Curtis started, to what you have called waylay him in the avenue.
Lord Kilgobbin Charles James Lever 1839
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They switched their car's headlights off and drove along another street to "waylay" the police vehicle.
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A body can waste time on a summers day without having to waylay quite so many resources, far better go go fishin or fling a few shafts (or rounds) downrange.
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However, given the potential pitfalls that could still waylay the markets, many strategists and investors are keeping portfolios light on the riskiest investments.
Stock Surge Has Its Skeptics Tom Lauricella 2011
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A body can waste time on a summers day without having to waylay quite so many resources, far better go go fishin or fling a few shafts (or rounds) downrange.
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When zombies waylay you, they will not be merciful because you are helpless.
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The government does not, indeed, waylay a man in a lonely place, spring upon him from the roadside, and, holding a pistol to his head, proceed to rifle his pockets.
The woman with the twenty-dollar bill. - Moe_Lane’s blog - RedState 2009
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"At the river, older street children waylay girls who come to fetch water," one boy recounts.
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Like Solzhenitsyn said, if the people lay in wait under staircases with sticks and kitchen knives to waylay the Cheka when they came at night, rather than hiding in their own apartments, they could have made it too costly for the Soviets to imprison and murder so many millions.
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When zombies waylay you, they will not be merciful because you are helpless.
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » I submit within a month… 2010
rolig commented on the word waylay
I usually think of this verb in its passive participle form: I haven't finished the work I promised because I was waylaid by another impatient client with an even more pressing deadline.
I like the word because it conjures up such a vivid image of being attacked while one is trying to get somewhere.
December 1, 2007
minerva commented on the word waylay
Your brother having been assured that you are not married, has taken a resolution to find you out, way-lay you and carry you off.
Anna Howe to Clarissa Harlowe, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
December 10, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word waylay
Is it just me, or does this word have a Chinese feel to it?
December 10, 2007
bilby commented on the word waylay
Ah, Dim-sim Syndrome.
December 10, 2007
ofravens commented on the word waylay
His voice waylays me, spells a trance
from "Pursuit," by Sylvia Plath
April 8, 2008
bilby commented on the word waylay
"The women, who hold wicker baskets filled with flowers and incense, are out to waylay tourists and to entice them into buying the blooms and scents."
- Jacob Heilbrunn, 'Mao More Than Ever', New Republic, 21 April 1997.
October 15, 2008