belay

Meaning

1. To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
2. To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.
3. To lay aside; to stop; to cancel.
4. The general command to stop or cease.
5. (obsolete) To surround; to environ; to enclose.
6. (obsolete) To overlay; to adorn.
7. (obsolete) To besiege; invest; surround.
8. (obsolete) To lie in wait for in order to attack; block up or obstruct.

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪˈleɪ/

From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).

Cognate with Dutch

beleggen

Cognate with German

belegen

New

belie

To tell lies about.
To give a false representation of.
To contradict, to show (something) to be false.
To call a liar; to accuse of falsehood.
To fill with lies; to lie to.
To conceal the contradictory or ironic presence of (something).
To show, evince or demonstrate (something) to be present, particularly something deemed contradictory or ironic.
(obsolete) To mimic; to counterfeit.