Definition

1. Verb (transitive): To place or spread something over a surface.
   • Example: She decided to lay over the old carpet with a new rug.
2. Verb (intransitive): To interrupt a journey with a temporary stop, often overnight or for a connecting flight.
   • Example: Our flight will lay over in Dubai for three hours before continuing to Sydney.

Usage

• The intransitive meaning related to travel is the most common in modern usage.
• When used for travel, it often implies a scheduled pause as part of a longer itinerary.
• The transitive meaning is less common and can often be replaced by "place over" or "spread over."

Examples

• Verb (Transitive):
  • The artist will lay over a thin glaze of color to create depth.
  • Please lay over that table with a protective cloth before painting.
• Verb (Intransitive):
  • Passengers traveling to Bangkok will lay over in Singapore.
  • Due to the storm, we had to lay over in Chicago for a night.

Advanced Usage

• As a Noun ('layover'): The temporary stop itself during a journey.
  • Example: We have a six-hour layover in Frankfurt Airport.
• The term is standard in airline and travel industry vocabulary to describe a scheduled intermediate stop.

Variants and Related Words

• Layover (n): The period of time spent during a temporary stop in a journey.
  • Example: The long layover allowed us to explore the city.
• Stopover (n/v): A very close synonym, often used interchangeably with "layover."

Synonyms

• For the travel meaning: Stop over, break a journey, make a stop.
• For the placing meaning: Superimpose, overlay, place over.

Phrasal Verbs

• Lay over functions as a phrasal verb itself. Note that the noun form is written as one word: .

Verb

1. place on top of
   • can you superimpose the two images?
2. interrupt a journey temporarily, e.g., overnight
   • We had to stop over in Venezuela on our flight back from Brazil