lay to rest

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Thân thiện
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

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