Definition

Verb (transitive) 1. To bury (a dead body); to inter. This is the primary and most literal meaning. It refers to the final act of placing a deceased person's body in its resting place, such as a grave, tomb, or crypt. 2. To settle or resolve (a matter, dispute, or question) conclusively; to put an end to. This is a figurative extension of the primary meaning. It implies bringing something to a definitive and final conclusion, so it is no longer an active issue or subject of debate.

Usage Examples

• Literal Meaning (to bury):
  • The family gathered to lay their beloved grandmother to rest in the village cemetery.
  • After the state funeral, the president was laid to rest with full military honors.
• Figurative Meaning (to settle conclusively):
  • The new evidence should finally lay to rest any doubts about his innocence.
  • The committee's report aims to lay to rest the longstanding controversy over the project's funding.

Advanced Usage

• The phrase is often used in passive constructions ("was laid to rest," "will be laid to rest") for the literal meaning.
• For the figurative meaning, it is frequently used with abstract nouns like , , , , , or .
• It carries a formal and solemn tone, appropriate for serious contexts.

Variants and Related Words

• Inter (verb): To place a dead body in a grave or tomb; a more formal synonym for the literal meaning.
• Bury (verb): The most common and direct synonym for the literal meaning.
• Entomb (verb): To place in a tomb; suggests a more elaborate or enclosed resting place.
• Put to bed (idiom, informal): To finish dealing with something. This is a less formal idiom with a similar figurative sense of concluding a matter, but it is not used for burial.

Synonyms

• For the literal meaning: Bury, inter, entomb, inhume.
• For the figurative meaning: Settle, resolve, dispel, put an end to, quell, silence.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Lay something to rest is itself an idiomatic phrasal verb. It does not have further common phrasal verb derivatives.
• At rest (idiom): A euphemism meaning dead and buried. ("He is now next to his wife.")
• Final resting place (noun phrase): The location where someone is buried or interred.

Verb

1. place in a grave or tomb
   • Stalin was buried behind the Kremlin wall on Red Square
   • The pharaohs were entombed in the pyramids
   • My grandfather was laid to rest last Sunday