Meaning of lie in English

lie
verb
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
A2 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
to lie in bed
to lie on a beach
to lie on your side
A cat lay in front of the fire.
He lies awake at night, worrying.
A pen lay on the desk.

B1 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
If something lies in a particular place, position, or direction, it is in
that place, position, or direction:
There's an old pair of shoes of yours lying at/in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The river lies 30 km to the south.
The team is lying third in the league.
Here lies the body of Mary Taylor (= this is where Mary Taylor is buried).
There are several houses lying empty in the town.
The town lay in ruins.
The ship lies off (= is positioned near) the coast of Spain.

[ I + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to exist:
The hardest part of the competition still lies ahead of us.
C2 [ I usually + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past
participle lain
If responsibility, blame, a decision, a choice, etc. lies with someone, they
have responsibility, must make the decision, etc.:
Responsibility for the disaster must ultimately lie with the government.
Where does the blame lie?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
be to blame for something

 be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.

 be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
 be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
 be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the
attacks.
 the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
 the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which
has confused people with conflicting health messages
See more results »

lie in state present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain

When the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is arranged so

that the public can see and honour it before it is buried:
Thousands of people came to pay their respects as his body lay in state.
See more
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

lie verb (SPEAK FALSELY)

B1 [ I ] present participle lying | past tense lied | past participle lied

to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:
Are you lying to me?
Don't trust her - she's lying.
I suspect he lies about his age.
See also
liar
 Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Grammar

Lay or lie?
The verb lay means ‘to put something down carefully in a flat position’. It must have
an object. It is a regular verb, but note the spelling of the past simple and -ed form:
laid not layed: …

Idioms
lie doggo
lie down on the job
lie low
lie through your teeth
not take something lying down

Phrasal verbs
lie around
lie back
lie behind something
lie down
lie in
lie in something
lie up

lie
noun [ C ]
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/

B1
something you say that you know is not true:
I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
AD

Idioms
give the lie to something
I tell a lie
the lie of the land
 (Definition of lie from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus ©

Cambridge University Press)

lie | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

lie
verb
US
/lɑɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past
participle lain US/leɪn/
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The mechanic was lying on his
back underneath my car.
[ I always + adv/prep ] I love to lie down in front of the fire and read.
[ L ] He lies awake at night, worrying.

present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past

participle lain US/leɪn/
If something lies in a particular place, position, condition, or direction it is
in that place, position, condition, or direction:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The river lies 40 miles to the south of us.
[ I always + adv/prep ] You shouldn’t leave that check lying around (= not
in its place).

Meaning of lie in English

lie
verb
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
A2 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
to lie in bed
to lie on a beach
to lie on your side
A cat lay in front of the fire.
He lies awake at night, worrying.
A pen lay on the desk.

B1 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
If something lies in a particular place, position, or direction, it is in
that place, position, or direction:
There's an old pair of shoes of yours lying at/in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The river lies 30 km to the south.
The team is lying third in the league.
Here lies the body of Mary Taylor (= this is where Mary Taylor is buried).
There are several houses lying empty in the town.
The town lay in ruins.
The ship lies off (= is positioned near) the coast of Spain.

[ I + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to exist:
The hardest part of the competition still lies ahead of us.

C2 [ I usually + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past

participle lain
If responsibility, blame, a decision, a choice, etc. lies with someone, they
have responsibility, must make the decision, etc.:
Responsibility for the disaster must ultimately lie with the government.
Where does the blame lie?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
be to blame for something

 be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.

 be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
  be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
 be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the
attacks.
 the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
 the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which
has confused people with conflicting health messages
See more results »

lie in state present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain

When the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is arranged so

that the public can see and honour it before it is buried:
Thousands of people came to pay their respects as his body lay in state.
See more
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

lie verb (SPEAK FALSELY)

B1 [ I ] present participle lying | past tense lied | past participle lied

to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:
Are you lying to me?
Don't trust her - she's lying.
I suspect he lies about his age.
See also
liar
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Grammar

Lay or lie?
The verb lay means ‘to put something down carefully in a flat position’. It must have
an object. It is a regular verb, but note the spelling of the past simple and -ed form:
laid not layed: …

Idioms
lie doggo
lie down on the job
lie low
lie through your teeth
not take something lying down

Phrasal verbs
lie around
lie back
lie behind something
lie down
lie in
lie in something
lie up

lie
noun [ C ]
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/

B1
something you say that you know is not true:
I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
AD

Idioms
give the lie to something
I tell a lie
the lie of the land

(Definition of lie from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus ©

Cambridge University Press)

lie | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

lie
verb
US
/lɑɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past
participle lain US/leɪn/
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The mechanic was lying on his
back underneath my car.
[ I always + adv/prep ] I love to lie down in front of the fire and read.
[ L ] He lies awake at night, worrying.

present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past

participle lain US/leɪn/
If something lies in a particular place, position, condition, or direction it is
in that place, position, condition, or direction:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The river lies 40 miles to the south of us.
[ I always + adv/prep ] You shouldn’t leave that check lying around (= not
in its place).

Meaning of lie in English

lie
verb
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
A2 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
to lie in bed
to lie on a beach
to lie on your side
A cat lay in front of the fire.
He lies awake at night, worrying.
A pen lay on the desk.
B1 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
If something lies in a particular place, position, or direction, it is in
that place, position, or direction:
There's an old pair of shoes of yours lying at/in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The river lies 30 km to the south.
The team is lying third in the league.
Here lies the body of Mary Taylor (= this is where Mary Taylor is buried).
There are several houses lying empty in the town.
The town lay in ruins.
The ship lies off (= is positioned near) the coast of Spain.

[ I + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to exist:
The hardest part of the competition still lies ahead of us.

C2 [ I usually + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past

participle lain
If responsibility, blame, a decision, a choice, etc. lies with someone, they
have responsibility, must make the decision, etc.:
Responsibility for the disaster must ultimately lie with the government.
Where does the blame lie?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
be to blame for something

 be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.

 be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
 be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
 be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the
attacks.
 the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
 the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which
has confused people with conflicting health messages
See more results »

lie in state present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
When the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is arranged so
that the public can see and honour it before it is buried:
Thousands of people came to pay their respects as his body lay in state.
See more
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

lie verb (SPEAK FALSELY)

B1 [ I ] present participle lying | past tense lied | past participle lied

to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:
Are you lying to me?
Don't trust her - she's lying.
I suspect he lies about his age.
See also
liar
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Grammar

Lay or lie?
The verb lay means ‘to put something down carefully in a flat position’. It must have
an object. It is a regular verb, but note the spelling of the past simple and -ed form:
laid not layed: …

Idioms
lie doggo
lie down on the job
lie low
lie through your teeth
not take something lying down

Phrasal verbs
lie around
lie back
lie behind something
lie down
lie in
lie in something
lie up
lie
noun [ C ]
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/

B1
something you say that you know is not true:
I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
AD

Idioms
give the lie to something
I tell a lie
the lie of the land

(Definition of lie from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus ©

Cambridge University Press)

lie | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

lie
verb
US
/lɑɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past
participle lain US/leɪn/
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The mechanic was lying on his
back underneath my car.
[ I always + adv/prep ] I love to lie down in front of the fire and read.
[ L ] He lies awake at night, worrying.

present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past

participle lain US/leɪn/
If something lies in a particular place, position, condition, or direction it is
in that place, position, condition, or direction:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The river lies 40 miles to the south of us.
[ I always + adv/prep ] You shouldn’t leave that check lying around (= not
in its place).

Meaning of lie in English

lie
verb
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
A2 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
to lie in bed
to lie on a beach
to lie on your side
A cat lay in front of the fire.
He lies awake at night, worrying.
A pen lay on the desk.

B1 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
If something lies in a particular place, position, or direction, it is in
that place, position, or direction:
There's an old pair of shoes of yours lying at/in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The river lies 30 km to the south.
The team is lying third in the league.
Here lies the body of Mary Taylor (= this is where Mary Taylor is buried).
There are several houses lying empty in the town.
The town lay in ruins.
The ship lies off (= is positioned near) the coast of Spain.

[ I + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to exist:
The hardest part of the competition still lies ahead of us.

C2 [ I usually + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past

participle lain
If responsibility, blame, a decision, a choice, etc. lies with someone, they
have responsibility, must make the decision, etc.:
Responsibility for the disaster must ultimately lie with the government.
Where does the blame lie?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
be to blame for something

 be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.

 be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
 be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
 be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the
attacks.
 the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
 the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which
has confused people with conflicting health messages
See more results »

lie in state present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain

When the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is arranged so

that the public can see and honour it before it is buried:
Thousands of people came to pay their respects as his body lay in state.
See more
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

lie verb (SPEAK FALSELY)

B1 [ I ] present participle lying | past tense lied | past participle lied

to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:
Are you lying to me?
Don't trust her - she's lying.
I suspect he lies about his age.
See also
liar
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Grammar

Lay or lie?
The verb lay means ‘to put something down carefully in a flat position’. It must have
an object. It is a regular verb, but note the spelling of the past simple and -ed form:
laid not layed: …

Idioms
lie doggo
lie down on the job
lie low
lie through your teeth
not take something lying down

Phrasal verbs
lie around
lie back
lie behind something
lie down
lie in
lie in something
lie up

lie
noun [ C ]
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/

B1
something you say that you know is not true:
I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.
More examples
 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
AD

Idioms
give the lie to something
I tell a lie
the lie of the land

(Definition of lie from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus ©

Cambridge University Press)

lie | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

lie
verb
US
/lɑɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past
participle lain US/leɪn/
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The mechanic was lying on his
back underneath my car.
[ I always + adv/prep ] I love to lie down in front of the fire and read.
[ L ] He lies awake at night, worrying.

present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past

participle lain US/leɪn/
If something lies in a particular place, position, condition, or direction it is
in that place, position, condition, or direction:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The river lies 40 miles to the south of us.
[ I always + adv/prep ] You shouldn’t leave that check lying around (= not
in its place).

Meaning of lie in English

lie
verb
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
A2 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
to lie in bed
to lie on a beach
to lie on your side
A cat lay in front of the fire.
He lies awake at night, worrying.
A pen lay on the desk.

B1 [ I + adv/prep, L ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
If something lies in a particular place, position, or direction, it is in
that place, position, or direction:
There's an old pair of shoes of yours lying at/in the bottom of the wardrobe.
The river lies 30 km to the south.
The team is lying third in the league.
Here lies the body of Mary Taylor (= this is where Mary Taylor is buried).
There are several houses lying empty in the town.
The town lay in ruins.
The ship lies off (= is positioned near) the coast of Spain.

[ I + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain
to exist:
The hardest part of the competition still lies ahead of us.

C2 [ I usually + adv/prep ] present participle lying | past tense lay | past

participle lain
If responsibility, blame, a decision, a choice, etc. lies with someone, they
have responsibility, must make the decision, etc.:
Responsibility for the disaster must ultimately lie with the government.
Where does the blame lie?
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
be to blame for something

 be to blameNo one can decide who is to blame.

 be at faultBoth the fans and the players were at fault.
 be someone's faultThis is all my fault.
 be responsibleWe're still trying to determine who was responsible for the
attacks.
 the blame lies withSome of the blame lies with investors.
 the blame rests withMuch of the blame rests with the government, which
has confused people with conflicting health messages
See more results »

lie in state present participle lying | past tense lay | past participle lain

When the dead body of an important person lies in state, it is arranged so

that the public can see and honour it before it is buried:
Thousands of people came to pay their respects as his body lay in state.
See more
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

lie verb (SPEAK FALSELY)

B1 [ I ] present participle lying | past tense lied | past participle lied

to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone:
Are you lying to me?
Don't trust her - she's lying.
I suspect he lies about his age.
See also
liar
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Grammar

Lay or lie?
The verb lay means ‘to put something down carefully in a flat position’. It must have
an object. It is a regular verb, but note the spelling of the past simple and -ed form:
laid not layed: …

Idioms
lie doggo
lie down on the job
lie low
lie through your teeth
not take something lying down

Phrasal verbs
lie around
lie back
lie behind something
lie down
lie in
lie in something
lie up

lie
noun [ C ]
UK
/laɪ/ US
/laɪ/

B1
something you say that you know is not true:
I told a lie when I said I liked her haircut.
More examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
AD

Idioms
give the lie to something
I tell a lie
the lie of the land

(Definition of lie from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus ©

Cambridge University Press)

lie | AMERICAN DICTIONARY
lie
verb
US
/lɑɪ/
lie verb (POSITION)
Add to word list
present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past
participle lain US/leɪn/
to be in or move into a horizontal position on a surface:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The mechanic was lying on his
back underneath my car.
[ I always + adv/prep ] I love to lie down in front of the fire and read.
[ L ] He lies awake at night, worrying.

present participle lying US/ˈlɑɪ·ɪŋ/ | past tense lay US/leɪ/ | past

participle lain US/leɪn/
If something lies in a particular place, position, condition, or direction it is
in that place, position, condition, or direction:
[ I always + adv/prep ] The river lies 40 miles to the south of us.
[ I always + adv/prep ] You shouldn’t leave that check lying around (= not
in its place).