belaying

Verb

belay (third-person singular simple present belays, present participle belaying, simple past and past participle belayed or belaid)

1. (ambitransitive) To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
2. (transitive) To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.
   • He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.
3. (transitive) To lay aside; to stop; to cancel.
   • Belay that order!
4. (intransitive) The general command to stop or cease.
5. (obsolete, transitive) To surround; to environ; to enclose.
6. (obsolete, transitive) To overlay; to adorn.
   • jacket […] belayd with silver lace1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5

See all 12 meanings of belay