Here is a mnemonic from the website Primility to help you tell laying and lying apart: “If you tell an untruth it is a lie… Lay is a verb that commonly means “to put or set (something) down.” Lie is a verb that commonly means “to be in or to assume a horizontal position” (or “to make an untrue statement,” but we’ll focus on the first definition). Lying definition, the telling of lies, or false statements; untruthfulness: From boyhood, he has never been good at lying. Meaning and use of the verbs ‘lay’ and ‘lie’ The verb ‘lay’ means ‘to put down’ or ‘to place something in a resting position’ The verb ‘lie’ means ‘to tell a falsehood’ or ‘to recline’ To simplify our discussion, we will ignore the meaning ‘to tell a falsehood’. Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. In other words, lay takes a direct object, and lie … Lying. Beware of spelling! What does take lying down expression mean? See more. As we have seen, lie is an intransitive verb meaning recline horizontally. He was seen laying down near the window. The I becomes a Y: lying. Tonight, he won’t lie down until midnight. The past tense of lay is laid. take lying down phrase. American definition and synonyms of lie down from the online English dictionary from Macmillan Education.. Find more ways to say lying down, along with related words, antonyms and example phrases at Thesaurus.com, the world's most trusted free thesaurus. Something can lie somewhere, but it cannot lay there. Tips to Remember the Difference . Meaning: accept an insult without argument or reaction. Sit down on your bed Turn your head 45 degrees in the direction of the affected ear Keeping you head turned, lie down with your shoulders on … Lay requires a direct object. The past participle of lie down is lain down. Use this mnemonic - LAY - (pLAce) and LIE - (recLIne) Lie does not require a direct object. You can use laying here as present tense, if he was seen in the process getting on the bed when the observation (He was seen) was made. He was seen lying down near the window. The present participle of lie is not lieing. Lay and lie are so commonly confused that there are many tricks to help you remember the difference. Take (something) lying down definition is - to accept (something bad, such as an insult or unfair treatment) without trying to fight against it. The same rule applies to laying and lying. [/example] Laying Vs. Find more words! How to use take (something) lying down in a sentence. You lie down, but you lay something down. Dear M Anonymous, The original question asked “Which is correct, ‘laying in the bed’ or ‘laying on the bed’?” Most of this answer will address the original question. Caren, you shouldn’t take that lying down. This is the American English definition of lie down.View British English definition of lie down.. 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