Lie

Lie (lī) , noun

See Lye.

Lie (lī) , noun

[Anglo-Saxon lyge; akin to Dutch leugen, Old High German lugi, German luge, lug, Icelandic lygi, Danish & Swedish logn, Gothic liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood.]

A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive.

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

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

A fiction; a fable; an untruth. — Dryden

Anything which misleads or disappoints.

Wishing this lie of life was o'er. — Trench

Collocations (2)

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.

Lie (līd) , intransitive verb

[Old English lien, liyen, leyen, leoyen, Anglo-Saxon leógan; akin to Dutch liegen, Old Saxon & Old High German liogan, German lugen, Icelandic ljūga, Swedish ljuga, Danish lyve, Gothic 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.

Lie (lā) , intransitive verb

[Old English lien, liggen, Anglo-Saxon licgan; akin to Dutch liggen, Old High German ligen, licken, German liegen, Icelandic liggja, Swedish ligga, Danish ligge, Gothic ligan, Russ. lejate, Latin lectus bed, Greek le`chos bed, le`xasqai to lie. Compare Lair, Law, Lay, transitive verb, Litter, Low, adj.]

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. [Obsolete]

The watchful traveler... Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes. — Dryden

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.

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.

To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; -- with in.

Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances. — Collier

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

To lodge; to sleep.

Whiles I was now trifling at home, I saw London,... where I lay one night only. — Evelyn

Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night. — Dickens

To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.

The wind is loud and will not lie. — Shakespeare

(Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.

An appeal lies in this case. — Parsons

What he gets more of her than sharp words, let it lie on my head. — Shakespeare

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.

Lie (lī) , noun

The position or way in which anything lies; the lay, as of land or country. — J. H. Newman

He surveyed with his own eyes... the lie of the country on the side towards Thrace. — Jowett (Thucyd.)