Word.ws English Dictionary

laid down the marker

laid down the marker is the simple past and past participle of lay down the marker.

Meaning of lay down the marker

Verb

lay down the marker (third-person singular simple present lays down the marker, present participle laying down the marker, simple past and past participle laid down the marker)

  1. (idiomatic) To set the standard.
    • City held firm and even threatened to retake the lead when Adam Johnson tested De Gea, but it was United who laid down the marker for the forthcoming Premier League campaign, beginning the defence of their title by collecting more silverware.2011 August 7, Chris Bevan, “Man City 2 - 3 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport

Questions about laid down the marker

What is laid down the marker the simple past and past participle of?
Laid down the marker is the simple past and past participle of lay down the marker.

Words near laid down the marker in the dictionary

  1. laid down on
  2. laid down one's arms
  3. laid down one's life
  4. laid down one's weapons
  5. laid down the law
  6. laid down the marker
  7. laid eggs
  8. laid eyes on
  9. laid for
  10. laid hands on
  11. laid hold on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: laid down the marker (page history and authors); lay down the marker (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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