Lie | Mean of lie in English Dictionary

/ˈlaɪ/

• Verb
• to be in a flat position on a surface (such as a bed)
1. Lie still.
2. She lay asleep on the bed.
3. He lay dead on the floor.
4. The police found him lying unconscious in an alley.
5. All the dog did was just lie there.
• to move from a standing or sitting position to a flat position on a surface
1. The doctor asked him to lie [=lie down] on the table.
• to be in a flat position on a surface
1. snow lying on the ground
2. A note was lying on the table when he came home.
3. The leaves lay thick on the ground.
4. He placed a hand on her shoulder, where it lay [=rested] for a moment.

• to be or remain in a specified state or condition
1. The city lay in ruins.
2. The book was lying open on the desk.
3. The factory continues to lie idle.
4. dishes lying dirty in the sink
• to be in a specified direction
1. Our route lay to the west.
• to be located in a particular place
1. The village lies in a peaceful valley.
2. The river lies along the western edge of the mountains.
3. Ohio lies east of Indiana. = Ohio lies to the east of Indiana.
4. A ship was lying in the harbor.
5. The mountains lay between us and our goal.
6. I don't know where the answer lies. [=I don't know where the answer can be found; I don't know what the answer is]
7. He doesn't know where his future lies. [=he doesn't know what he will do in the future]
8. The choice lay between fighting or surrendering. [=the choice was between fighting or surrendering]
9. There is no question about where her loyalties lie. [=about which person, group, etc., she is loyal to]
10. The problem lies in knowing what to do.
11. I don't know what to do, and therein lies the problem. [=that is the problem]
• to be at a specified level in a competition
1. They are lying third. = They are lying in third place. [=they are in third place]
• to be in the future
1. No one knows what lies ahead (of us). [=no one knows what will happen (to us) in the future]
• to be lying in a disordered way
1. He always had a lot of clothes lying around his house.
• to be somewhere within a general area or place
1. I know that pen is lying around here somewhere.
• to spend time resting in a lazy way
1. She spent the whole day just lying around.
2. My friends and I were lying around by the pool.
• to lean backward from a sitting position to a flat position
1. The doctor asked him to lie back on the table.
• to be the cause of (something)
1. Greed lies behind the higher prices.
• to fail to do your job
1. He says pollution has been getting worse because government regulators have been lying down on the job.
• to stay in bed later than usual
1. She likes to lie in [=sleep in] on Saturdays.
• to try not to be noticed
1. The prisoners had to lie low after their escape.
• to affect someone in a specified way
1. Sorrow lay heavily on him. [=he felt very sad]
2. Guilt lies on his conscience. [=he feels very guilty]
3. Her years lie lightly upon her. [=she seems younger than she is]
• to have sex with (someone)
1. when he first lay with her
• Noun
• the position in which something lies on the ground
1. a golf ball in a difficult lie
• Verb
• to say or write something that is not true in order to deceive someone
1. I can't believe you lied to me.
2. He has been accused of lying about his military record.
3. She was lying when she told her parents that she had spent the afternoon studying.
4. She was lying through her teeth. [=she was saying something completely untrue]
5. (US, informal) You can't trust that guy. He lies like a rug. [=he lies constantly; he is dishonest]
• to indicate or suggest something that is not true or accurate
1. Statistics sometimes lie. [=do not accurately reflect the truth]
2. You may think that you still look young, but the mirror never lies. [=the mirror shows how you really look]
• Noun
• something untrue that is said or written to deceive someone
1. She told a lie to her parents.
2. He has been accused of telling lies about his military record.
3. a bold/brazen/barefaced lie
4. a complete lie
5. The accusations are lies, all lies.
6. The claims he has made are nothing but a pack of lies.
7. (chiefly Brit) He has woven a tissue of lies [=he has told many lies] about his military record.
• to show that (something) is not true
1. Her success has given the lie to the notion that women cannot compete with men.
• to live in a false or deceptive way
1. Their friends thought that they had a happy marriage, but they were living a lie. [=their marriage was not happy]