From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlay somebody/something ↔ out phrasal verb1 spreadSPREAD to spread something out Lay out the map on the table and let’s have a look.2 arrangeAAARRANGE A GROUP OF THINGS OR PEOPLE to arrange or plan a building, town, garden etc SYN set out The garden is laid out in a formal pattern.3 explain to describe or explain something clearly SYN set out The financial considerations are laid out in a booklet called ‘How to Borrow Money’.4 spend informalSPEND MONEY to spend money, especially a lot of money → outlaylay out something on something What’s the point in laying out money on something you’ll only wear once?5 hit informalHIT to hit someone so hard that they fall down and become unconscious One of the guards had been laid out and the other was missing.6 bodyMX to prepare a dead body so that it can be buried → lay→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
lay out• Flattens Molloy and lays him out.• The guys were yelling for McMurphy to lay him out.• At last the dang lay spread out below us.• New York laid itself out for you.• He laid it carefully out on the long table whilst waving Corbett over.• Upstairs, I lay my things out ready.• Only Røst lay further out to sea.• I took their demands, and then I went to our guys, and I laid it out to them.lay out something on something• The Charwighul people laid out their dead on a wooden platform and covered them with reed mats.• It lays out constitutional rules on secrecy that any White House could claim.• He saw them lay out food on the grass beneath both trees.• These houses are laid out in terraces on the hillside with porticoes and colonnaded peristyles.• Methods and techniques are covered from priming your canvas to laying out colour on the palette.• The most significant thing about the system is that it allows the operator to lay out pages on the screen.• He began laying out his instruments on the table scarf.• We laid out tape on the varnished pine floor and played violent games of foursquare.From Longman Business Dictionarylay something → out phrasal verb [transitive] informal to spend a lot of money on somethinglay out something for/on somethingSome people are willing to lay out huge amounts of money for electronic equipment. → lay→ See Verb table 