From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlay into somebody/something phrasal verbATTACKCRITICIZEto attack or criticize someone or something Outside the club, two men were laying into each other. → lay→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
lay into • Beria therefore had a vital interest in seeing Stalin laid into a coffin, and there were rumours that he murdered him.• Greenidge soon went, leaving Richards to lay into the bowling.• The weaving yarn is laid into the stocking stitch knitted with the main yarn following a pattern.• When West Indies batted, Richards was soon laying into them, hammering a six and twenty fours in 119 not out. 