lye

See also: lyé and -lye

English

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /laɪ/
  • Rhymes: -aɪ
  • Homophones: lie, lai

Etymology 1

From Old English lēag, from Proto-Germanic *laugō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”).

Noun

lye (countable and uncountable, plural lyes)

  1. An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).
  2. Potassium or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).
Derived terms
Translations
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Further reading

Etymology 2

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Noun

lye (plural lyes)

  1. (Britain, railways) A short side line, connected with the main line; a turn-out; a siding.

Verb

lye (third-person singular simple present lyes, present participle lying, simple past and past participle lyed)

  1. Obsolete spelling of lie
    • John Dryden
      But when his foe lyes prostrate on the plain,
      He sheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane;
      And, pleas'd with bloudless honours of the day,
      Walks over, and disdains th' inglorious Prey.
    • John Donne, Loves Diet
      Now negligent of sports I lye,
      And now as other Fawkners use,
      I spring a mistresse, sweare, write, sigh and weepe:
      And the game kill'd, or lost, goe talk, and sleepe.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for lye in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams
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