▪ I. lying, vbl. n.1
(ˈlaɪɪŋ)
Forms: see lie v.1
[f. lie v.1 + -ing1.]
1. a. The action of lie v.1 in various senses; resting, reclining, remaining in deposit, † being sick, etc.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 8 Fleschs forgon oþer visch, & alle oþer swuche þinges, of weriunge, of liggunge, of vres, of beoden. a 1300 Cursor M. 6686 Þe smiter sal quite his lechyng, And þe scath of his liging. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 141 For boþe Cristis liynge in þe sepulcre and his dwellinge here in erþe was litil tyme. a 1400 Cursor M. 29091 (Cott. Galba) Þe first [discipline es]..sighing, wepeing, and ill liging. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 137 Soft lyenge, soft weryng, or moche fedyng of delycate meates. 1602 Shakes. All's Well i. i. 167 'Tis a commodity will lose the glosse with lying; The longer kept, the lesse worth. 1634 Lease by R. Kenward to W. Deane verso (MS.), I..would never have bought it but for the convenient lying of it to my other ground. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing vii, Sugar-Chest..Stuff being commonly well-season'd, by the long lying of the Sugar in it. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 34/1 Liquify'd by long lying in the Water. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 574 This situation [of a bed sore] is determined..by the lying of the paralytic on that side. |
† b. spec. The state of being buried; concr. place of sepulture. Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxx. 244 Kyng Edward chese his sepulture and his lyggyng at Westmynster. a 1676 Gunton Hist. Ch. Peterburgh (1686) 77 The Heralds..appointed..the place for the body to be Interred, which was devised over against the lying of Queen Katherine. |
c. with adv. or advb. phr. (see lie v.1 IV). Also lying-in.
| 1382 Wyclif Rom. ix. 10 Rebecca, of o liggynge by hauynge tweye sones of Ysaac, our fadir. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 93 Bote wiþ som manere rouschelynge þat he made in ligynge adoun his felowe awook. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 333/2 He hadde Subtylytee for teschewe the lyggynge in a wayte of his enemyes. 1530 Palsgr. 239/2 Lying in wayte, aguaytance. Ibid. 423, I am upon my lieng downe, as a woman that is nere her tyme. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 87 From thence to the lying out of the mountaine Pyrenæus, Aquitania. 1611 Bible Ps. cxxxix. 3 Thou compassest my path, and my lying downe. 1611 ― Acts xx. 19 Many teares, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait [Tindale layinges awayte] of the Iewes. 1623 Massinger Bondman ii. i, There's a sport too Nam'd lying Perdieu..Which you must learne to play at. 1647 Fuller Good Th. in Worse T. (1841) 81 This lying along is an improper posture for piety. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 115 B. is the Fore-top-sail braced back, which is done..to stop her way, term'd Lying-by. 1711 Lond. Gaz. No. 4910/2 The Admiral thought it proper..to make the Signal for lying by. 1792 C. Smith Desmond II. 121 You have accused me of lying by in Company. |
| attrib. c 1834 N. P. Willis in G. Paston Little Mem. 19th C. (1902) 176 His [Disraeli's] eye..has the most mocking lying-in-wait expression conceivable. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 460 If a change from the lying-down to the sitting-up position is rapidly made. |
2. concr. With qualification (as dry, soft, warm, etc., lying): Accommodation for repose.
| 1853 De Quincey Autobiog. Sk. Wks. I. 295 It was a subject of gratitude..to dwell upon the soft lying which was to be found in that..morass. 1868 Nettleship Browning vii. 262 A poet from his birth, nursed in Nature's softest lying. 1886 Weekly Times 6 Aug. 13/3 There is no finer feeding or warmer lying in Scotland. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 20 May 10/2 Dry lying—a dry bed at night—is..essential to the welfare of deer. |
3. attrib., as lying-ground, lying-place; † lying-house (see quot. 1593); lying-in-state, (of the corpse of a public figure) being on display for public tribute before burial; lying-press (Printing) = laying-press (see laying vbl. n. 3).
| 1895 Cornish Wild Eng. 122 The paddock is a favourite *lying ground for hares. |
| 1423–4 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 271 Pro ligatur pro hostio vocato trapdoure supra *lyng house, iiijd.; et pro seris et clavibus pro lyng house, xxd. 1593 Rites & Mon. Ch. Durh. (Surtees) 75 A strong prysonne call the Lynghouse [MS. Cos., Lyinge house]. |
| 1923 W. de la Mare Riddle 241 Positive constellations of candles as if for a Prince's..*lying-in-state. 1947 M. Field Boys' & Girls' Film Bk. 67 When he died thousands of people went to his lying-in-state. 1972 Whitaker's Almanack 1973 565/2 The Duke of Windsor's lying-in-state took place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. |
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. vii. 17, I ha sprengd my *ligging place with myrre, and aloes. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Desbauger vn sanglier, to raise a wilde Bore from his lying place. |
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 43/1 By screwing the volume up in the *lying-press. |
▪ II. lying, vbl. n.2
(ˈlaɪɪŋ)
Forms: see lie v.2
[f. lie v.2 + -ing1.]
The action of lie v.2; the telling of lies. † In 16–17th c. sometimes in pl.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter v. 7 (MS. Egerton) Þou leses alle þat speke liyhinge. 1340 Ayenb. 143 Him hit þingþ þet hit is al wynd and metinge and lyeȝynge. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 13302 My condicioun ys to lye;..With lyyng I shal deceyue the. 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 68 If for ydle wordes, what for hurtfull words? what for lyings? 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxviii. 412 The Divell..did steale all that he could from the trueth, to imploy it in his lyings and deceits. 1656 E. Reyner Rules Govt. Tongue 16 Lying is an ungodly, devilish and damnable practice. 1827 A. Opie (title) Illustrations of Lying in All its Branches. 1863 Mrs. J. H. Riddell World in Ch. III. 41 Lying is the employment of the lower orders, and the recreation of the higher. |
| personified. 1606 Dekker Sev. Sins ii. (Arb.) 21 Lying is Father to Falshood, and Grandsire to Periury. |
¶ b. Alleged name for a ‘company’ of pardoners.
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vij, A Lyeng of perdeneris. |
▪ III. lying, ppl. a.1
(ˈlaɪɪŋ)
[f. lie v.1 + -ing2.]
1. That lies, or rests in a recumbent, extended, stationary or inert position; also, † absol. (OE.) dead.
| c 1000 Leg. St. Swithun etc. (Earle 1861) 110 Þæt mæᵹn þæs licgendan. 1382 Wyclif Jer. xxxiii. 12 A dwelling place of shepperdus, of liggende flockus. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 224 The angry man Is wonyt to be of..a semely chyne and accordynge to the visage, and liggyne here. a 1450 Fysshynge w. Angle (1883) 16 The lying ground lyne with ovte floyte. 1842 Tennyson Vision of Sin 11 Sitting, lying languid shapes. 1862 Remarks on Golf 14 The Short-spoon..is used for playing either good-lying or bad-lying balls. 1880 W. Carnegie Pract. Trap. 16 That most annoying eventuality, a ‘lying’ ferret. |
b. Sc. Of money, goods, etc.: Put by.
| 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets i. 129 Your claiths, your lands, and lying pelf. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 386 We are not informed, what lying stock they have, what donations they have received [etc.]. |
2. Special collocations: lying-dog, a setter; lying-panel, † (a) a panel which occupies the lowest place in a series; (b) a panel whose longest dimension, or one whose grain, lies horizontally; † lying-stone, the nether millstone; lying-storm (Sc.), a snow-storm when the snow lies; lying-wall Mining = foot-wall (Raymond Mining Gloss.).
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, As if a penalty was inflicted by statute for any man who suld hunt or hawk, or use *lying-dogs. |
| 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. I. 106 The *Lying Pannel, above the Base. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 226 Lying Panel, a Panel with the fibres of the wood disposed horizontally. 1842–59 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Lying panels, those wherein the fibres of the wood, or the grain of it, lie in an horizontal direction. |
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 151 As certain a cause as is that, by which the runner in a Mill does not sink through the *Lyingstone. |
| 1787 Beattie Scoticisms 79 We use the word storm to signify a storm of snow, or snowy weather. We even speak of a *lying storm. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 298 Should the flakes be spicular and fall very thick and fast, then a heavy fall, or a ‘lying storm’..may be expected. |
▪ IV. lying, ppl. a.2
(ˈlaɪɪŋ)
Forms: see lie v.2
[f. lie v.2 + -ing2.]
1. Of a person, his lips, etc.: That tells lies.
| 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxix. 2 Deliuer my soule (o Lorde) from lyenge lippes. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 126 Then, Saunder, sit there, the lying'st Knaue in Christendome. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iv. iv, Do not beleeue him, Sir. He is the lying'st Swabber! 1611 Bible Prov. x. 18 Hee that hideth hatred with lying lippes..is a foole. a 1758 Ramsay Eagle & Robin 44 With a wickit lieand tung. 1886 W. J. Tucker E. Europe 158 A canting, lying, hypocritical set. |
2. Of impersonal things: Untruthful, mendacious; hence, deceitful, false.
| a 1225 Juliana 2 Ant of þis lihinde lif leade us..into þe eche of heouene. a 1340 Hampole Psalter i. 4 His worde sall noght..dissayuabile ne leghynge. 1535 Coverdale Jer. vii. 4 Trust not in false lyenge wordes. 1611 Bible Ps. xxxi. 6, I haue hated them that regard lying vanities. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 673 And slavish bards our mutual loves rehearse In lying strains. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xix. IV. 322 It was much easier..to put forth a lying prospectus. |