word-vault

{ "term": "lie", "partOfSpeech": "verb", "ox3000": true, "cefr": "a1", "verbForms": { "presentSimple": { "iYouWeThey": "lie", "heSheIt": "lies" }, "pastSimple": "lay", "pastParticiple": "lain", "ingForm": "lying" }, "definitions": [ { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "to be or put yourself in a flat position so that you are not standing or sitting", "sensetop": "lie + adv./prep.lie + adj.", "cefr": "a1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "to **lie on your back/side/front**", "contextForm": "lie + adv./prep." }, { "text": "She **lay in bed** listening to music." }, { "text": "**Lie there** for a bit until you feel better." }, { "text": "I **lay awake** all night worrying about it.", "contextForm": "lie + adj." }, { "text": "The cat was lying fast asleep by the fire." }, { "text": "She likes to lie in bed all day." }, { "text": "He was lying next to his wife in bed." }, { "text": "I lay on the sofa reading my book." }, { "text": "I lay on the grass and fell asleep." }, { "text": "She wouldn't enjoy a holiday just lying on the beach." }, { "text": "A man lay dead in the middle of the road." }, { "text": "They found her lying in a pool of blood." }, { "text": "They found him lying unconscious at the foot of the stairs." }, { "text": "He fell on the floor and just lay there not moving." }, { "text": "Her body lay motionless on the bed." }, { "text": "Lying there listening to music, I felt at peace." }, { "text": "He just lay there smiling." }, { "text": "They stole her belongings while she lay helpless on the bed." }, { "text": "A sleeping dog lies at his feet." }, { "text": "He was lying face down in the mud." }, { "text": "I was lying flat on the floor." }, { "text": "Lie face up on the floor." }, { "text": "Lie still and try to sleep." }, { "text": "Lie still while I put the bandage on." }, { "text": "They lay quietly for a while." }, { "text": "He lay on his stomach." }, { "text": "She lay sprawled on the sofa." }, { "text": "He was lying naked on the bed." }, { "text": "She lay on her back and looked up at the sky." }, { "text": "The painting depicts a male figure lying prone." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["down", "there", "comfortably"], "preposition": ["on", "in"], "phrases": ["lie asleep", "lie awake", "lie dead"] } }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "to be or remain in a flat position on a surface", "sensetop": "lie + adv./prep.lie + adj.", "cefr": "a2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Clothes were lying all over the floor.", "contextForm": "lie + adv./prep." }, { "text": "She picked up a pen that was lying nearby." }, { "text": "The book **lay open** on the desk.", "contextForm": "lie + adj." }, { "text": "Make sure the fabric **lies flat**." }, { "text": "He just leaves his wet towel lying on the carpet." }, { "text": "Broken glass lay scattered all over the floor." }, { "text": "An empty pill bottle lay on the bedside table." }, { "text": "He found a piece of quartz lying on the sand." }, { "text": "She left the letter lying unread on her desk for a week." }, { "text": "He tried to pick up the gun that was lying close by." }, { "text": "A stack of waffles lay next to a pile of blueberry pancakes." }, { "text": "The books lay gathering dust on the shelf." }, { "text": "Debris and rubble lay everywhere." }, { "text": "The cables, pipes and wires that serve New York lie as deep as 800 feet underground." }, { "text": "The ship now lies at the bottom of the sea." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["down", "there", "comfortably"], "preposition": ["on", "in"], "phrases": ["lie asleep", "lie awake", "lie dead"] } }, { "senseNumber": 3, "definition": "to be, remain or be kept in a particular state", "sensetop": "lie + adj.lie + adv./prep.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Houses **lie empty** while people are homeless.", "contextForm": "lie + adj." }, { "text": "These machines have **lain idle** since the factory closed." }, { "text": "Snow was lying thick on the ground." }, { "text": "Much of the city now **lay in ruins**.", "contextForm": "lie + adv./prep." }, { "text": "a ship lying at anchor" }, { "text": "I'd rather use my money than leave it lying in the bank." }, { "text": "The seeds lie dormant in the soil throughout the winter." }, { "text": "Passengers were standing up while first class seats lay empty." }, { "text": "Too many apartments are lying vacant." }, { "text": "The field is left to lie fallow." }, { "text": "These Roman ruins have lain undiscovered for two thousand years." }, { "text": "This precious film lay untouched in an attic." }, { "text": "Our plans lay in ruins." }, { "text": "Their dreams lay in tatters." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 4, "definition": "to exist or be found", "sensetop": "lie in somethinglie with somebodylie + adv./prep.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "The **problem lies** in deciding when to intervene.", "contextForm": "lie in something" }, { "text": "Our strength lies in our loyal customer base." }, { "text": "The fault lies with you.", "contextForm": "lie with somebody" }, { "text": "The answer seems to lie elsewhere.", "contextForm": "lie + adv./prep." }, { "text": "We need to consider carefully where our best **interests lie.**" }, { "text": "Different people see quite different things in this film, and **therein lies** its genius." }, { "text": "My main interest lies in his early work." }, { "text": "The big difference between them lies in their attitudes." }, { "text": "Her strength lies in her ability to understand her opponent's thinking." }, { "text": "The challenge lies in the fact that most people do not like to plan so far ahead." }, { "text": "The appeal of his paintings lies in their simplicity and boldness." }, { "text": "The answer lies in your hands." }, { "text": "Where does the answer lie?" }, { "text": "Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between." }, { "text": "The really important things lie outside our narrow concerns." }, { "text": "This is an issue that lies very close to my heart." }, { "text": "All the power lies with him in this situation." }, { "text": "Our sympathies lie with the main character." }, { "text": "Thousands of units would be needed, and therein lies the challenge." }, { "text": "Cloning endangered species may seem a wonderful idea, but where would scientists stop? Herein lies the danger." }, { "text": "We can guess what lies at the root of her problems: money." }, { "text": "Joy and love lie at the heart of all his films." }, { "text": "At the heart of this story there lies a puzzle." }, { "text": "Between the two of them there lay an unspoken tension." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 5, "definition": "to be located in a particular place", "sensetop": "lie + adv./prep.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "The town lies on the coast." }, { "text": "An island lies in the middle of the lagoon." }, { "text": "The building dates from around 1700 and lies close to the centre of Vienna." }, { "text": "The village lies in the foothills of the Dolomites." }, { "text": "The site lies next to the old library building." }, { "text": "There's a field lying next to the barn." }, { "text": "We walked to a stream that lay nearby." }, { "text": "The palace lies just outside the city walls." }, { "text": "The airport lies 50 miles east of the city." }, { "text": "These nations lie close to the sea lanes between Europe and China and Japan." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 6, "definition": "to be spread out in a particular place", "sensetop": "+ adv./prep.", "examples": [ { "text": "The valley lay below us." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 7, "definition": "to be in a particular position during a competition", "sensetop": "+ adv./prep.+ adj.", "labels": "(British English)", "examples": [ { "text": "Thompson is lying in fourth place.", "contextForm": "+ adv./prep." }, { "text": "After five games the German team are lying second.", "contextForm": "+ adj." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to be the original cause of something, especially something unpleasant", "examples": [ { "text": "We need to find out what lies at the bottom of these fears." }, { "text": "I'd love to know what lies at the bottom of all this." } ], "topics": ["Change, cause and effect"] }, { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "to be very easy to notice in a particular place in a way that is unpleasant", "sensetop": "hang/lie heavy (on/in something)", "examples": [ { "text": "Smoke lay heavy on the far side of the water." }, { "text": "Despair hangs heavy in the stifling air." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "to cause somebody/something to feel uncomfortable or anxious", "sensetop": "hang/lie heavy on somebody/something", "examples": [ { "text": "The crime lay heavy on her conscience." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to avoid mentioning a subject or something that happened in the past, in order to avoid any problems or arguments", "labels": "(saying)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to be going to happen to somebody in the future", "examples": [ { "text": "You are young and your whole life lies ahead of you." }, { "text": "She didn’t know what lay in store." }, { "text": "We must be prepared for whatever lies ahead." }, { "text": "None of us knows what lies in store for us." }, { "text": "A tremendous amount of work lay ahead of us." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "if a person lies flat, they reject the competitive work culture in society and adopt a more relaxed attitude to life, trying to do and spend as little as possible", "examples": [ { "text": "Many Chinese youth are ‘lying flat’ to express their frustration with the lack of upward social mobility." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to be placed on view in a public place before being buried", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to hide, waiting to surprise, attack or catch somebody", "examples": [ { "text": "He was surrounded by reporters who had been lying in wait for him." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to try not to attract attention to yourself", "labels": "(informal)", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to find out about a situation", "labels": "(British English)", "examples": [ { "text": "Let's wait and see how the land lies before we do anything." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to accept an offensive remark or act without protesting or reacting", "examples": [] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "you must accept the results of your actions", "labels": "(saying)", "examples": [] } ], "pronunciations": { "uk": [ { "pronunciation": "/laɪ/", "audio": "li/lie/lie__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/laɪz/", "audio": "li/lie/lies__gb_2.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/leɪ/", "audio": "la/lie/lay__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/leɪn/", "audio": "la/lie/lain__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈlaɪɪŋ/", "audio": "ly/lie/lying__gb_3.mp3" } ], "us": [ { "pronunciation": "/laɪ/", "audio": "li/lie/lie__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/laɪz/", "audio": "li/lie/lies__us_2.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/leɪ/", "audio": "la/lie/lay__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/leɪn/", "audio": "la/lie/lain__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈlaɪɪŋ/", "audio": "ly/lie/lying__us_4.mp3" } ] }, "wordOrigin": "Old English licgan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch liggen and German liegen, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek lektron, lekhos and Latin lectus ‘bed’." }