v. i. [ imp. Lay p. p. Lain (Lien Obs.); p. pr. & vb. n. Lying. ] [ OE. lien, liggen, AS. licgan; akin to D. liggen, OHG. ligen, licken, G. liegen, Icel. liggja, Sw. ligga, Dan. ligge, Goth. ligan, Russ. lejate, L. lectus bed, Gr. le`chos bed, le`xasqai to lie. Cf. Lair, Law, Lay, v. t., Litter, Low, adj. ] 1. To rest extended on the ground, a bed, or any support; to be, or to put one's self, in an horizontal position, or nearly so; to be prostate; to be stretched out; -- often with down, when predicated of living creatures; as, the book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin. [ 1913 Webster ]

The watchful traveler . . .
Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be situated; to occupy a certain place; as, Ireland lies west of England; the meadows lie along the river; the ship lay in port. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition; as, to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hid; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves; the paper does not lie smooth on the wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; -- with in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. Collier. [ 1913 Webster ]

He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labor, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To lodge; to sleep. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London, . . . where I lay one night only. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest. [ 1913 Webster ]

The wind is loud and will not lie. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained. “An appeal lies in this case.” Parsons. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Through ignorance or carelessness speakers and writers often confuse the forms of the two distinct verbs lay and lie. Lay is a transitive verb, and has for its preterit laid; as, he told me to lay it down, and I laid it down. Lie is intransitive, and has for its preterit lay; as, he told me to lie down, and I lay down. Some persons blunder by using laid for the preterit of lie; as, he told me to lie down, and I laid down. So persons often say incorrectly, the ship laid at anchor; they laid by during the storm; the book was laying on the shelf, etc. It is only necessary to remember, in all such cases, that laid is the preterit of lay, and not of lie. [ 1913 Webster ]

To lie along the shore (Naut.), to coast, keeping land in sight. --
To lie at the door of, to be imputable to; as, the sin, blame, etc., lies at your door. --
To lie at the heart, to be an object of affection, desire, or anxiety. Sir W. Temple. --
To lie at the mercy of, to be in the power of. --
To lie by. (a) To remain with; to be at hand; as, he has the manuscript lying by him. (b) To rest; to intermit labor; as, we lay by during the heat of the day. --
To lie hard or
To lie heavy, to press or weigh; to bear hard. --
To lie in, to be in childbed; to bring forth young. --
To lie in one, to be in the power of; to belong to. “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. xii. 18. --
To lie in the way, to be an obstacle or impediment. --
To lie in wait , to wait in concealment; to lie in ambush. --
To lie on or
To lie upon. (a) To depend on; as, his life lies on the result. (b) To bear, rest, press, or weigh on. --
To lie low, to remain in concealment or inactive. [ Slang ] --
To lie on hand,
To lie on one's hands, to remain unsold or unused; as, the goods are still lying on his hands; they have too much time lying on their hands. --
To lie on the head of, to be imputed to. [ 1913 Webster ] What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To lie over. (a) To remain unpaid after the time when payment is due, as a note in bank. (b) To be deferred to some future occasion, as a resolution in a public deliberative body. --
To lie to (Naut.), to stop or delay; especially, to head as near the wind as possible as being the position of greatest safety in a gale; -- said of a ship. Cf. To bring to, under Bring. --
To lie under, to be subject to; to suffer; to be oppressed by. --
To lie with. (a) To lodge or sleep with. (b) To have sexual intercourse with. (c) To belong to; as, it lies with you to make amends. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Lied p. pr. & vb. n. Lying ] [ OE. lien, li&yogh_;en, le&yogh_;en, leo&yogh_;en, AS. leógan; akin to D. liegen, OS. & OHG. liogan, G. lügen, Icel. ljūga, Sw. ljuga, Dan. lyve, Goth. liugan, Russ. lgate. ] To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive; to say or do that which is intended to deceive another, when he a right to know the truth, or when morality requires a just representation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land or country. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

He surveyed with his own eyes . . . the lie of the country on the side towards Thrace. Jowett (Thucyd.). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Lye. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. lüge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood. ] 1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive. [ 1913 Webster ]

The proper notion of a lie is an endeavoring to deceive another by signifying that to him as true, which we ourselves think not to be so. S. Clarke. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything which misleads or disappoints. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wishing this lie of life was o'er. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

To give the lie to. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give the lie to his words. --
White lie, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception. -- Lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. [ Named after a German physician and instrument maker, J. N. Lieberkühn. ] (Optics) A concave metallic mirror attached to the object-glass end of a microscope, to throw down light on opaque objects; a reflector. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>n. [ See Lieberkuehn. ] (Anat.) The simple tubular glands of the small intestines; -- called also crypts of Lieberkuehn. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From the liebfrauenstift, a convent in Worms where the wine was first made. RHUD ] A white Rhenish-type wine produced especially in Hesse in western Germany. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. a small principality in central Europe. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. a. 1. of or pertaining to Liechtenstein; as, Liechtensteiner castles. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. of or pertaining to the inhabitants of Liechtenstein; as, Liechtensteiner writers. [ WordNet 1.5 ]