Definitions for: Lie


[n] a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
[n] position or manner in which something is situated
[n] Norwegian diplomat who was the first Secretary General of the United Nations (1896-1968)
[v] tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive; "Don't lie to your parents"; "She lied when she told me she was only 29"
[v] be lying, be prostrate; be in a horizontal position; "The sick man lay in bed all day"; "the books are lying on the shelf"
[v] assume a reclining position; "lie down on the bed until you feel better"
[v] originate (in); "The problems dwell in the social injustices in this country"
[v] be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
[v] have a place in relation to something else; "The fate of Bosnia lies in the hands of the West"; "The responsibility rests with the Allies"
[v] be and remain in a particular state or condition; "lie dormant"



Webster (1913) Definition: Lie (l[imac]), n.
See Lye.


Lie (l[imac]), n. [AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi,
G. l["u]ge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. l["o]gn, 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.

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.

2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. --Dryden.

3. Anything which misleads or disappoints.

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

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.

Syn: Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception.

Usage: 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.


Lie, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Lied (l[imac]d); p. pr. & vb.
n. Lying (l[imac]"[i^]ng).] [OE. lien, li[yogh]en,
le[yogh]en, leo[yogh]en, AS. le['o]gan; akin to D. liegen,
OS. & OHG. liogan, G. l["u]gen, Icel. lj[=u]ga, 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.


Lie, v. i. [imp. Lay (l[=a]); p. p. Lain (l[=a]n),
(Lien (l[imac]"[e^]n), 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.

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

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.

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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

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

The wind is loud and will not lie. --Shak.

7. (Law) To be sustainable; to be capable of being
maintained. ``An appeal lies in this case.'' --Parsons.

Note: 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.

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 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 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.

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

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.


Lie (l[imac]), n.
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.).

Synonyms: belong, consist, dwell, lie down, lie in, prevarication, Trygve Halvden Lie, Trygve Lie

Antonyms: arise, get up, rise, sit, sit down, stand, stand up, stand up, uprise

See Also: appertain, back, bask, be, bow down, cap, change posture, charge, command, cover up, crest, diplomat, diplomatist, dominate, exist, face, false statement, falsehood, falsity, fib, fib, flank, focalise, focalize, front, head, inhere, jactitation, lap, lie, lie awake, lie down, line, localise, localize, look, look across, look out on, look out over, mediate, misinform, mislead, orient, overlie, overlook, overtop, perjure, pertain, place, point, position, precede, predate, prostrate, recline, repose, ride, romance, run along, slant, sprawl, story, stretch, stretch out, sun, sunbathe, tale, taradiddle, tarradiddle, top, underlie, untruth, white lie, whopper

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