Word.ws English Dictionary

lain behind

lain behind is the past participle of lie behind.

Meaning of lie behind

Verb

lie behind (third-person singular simple present lies behind, present participle lying behind, simple past lay behind, past participle lain behind)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lie, behind.
  2. To be the ultimate cause of.
    • What truly lies behind her sudden change of heart?

Questions about lain behind

What is lain behind the past participle of?
Lain behind is the past participle of lie behind.

Words near lain behind in the dictionary

  1. lain at someone's door
  2. lain at someone's heart
  3. lain back
  4. lain back and thought of England
  5. lain before
  6. lain behind
  7. lain by
  8. lain doggo
  9. lain down
  10. lain down on the job
  11. lain hands on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lain behind (page history and authors); lie behind (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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Cite this entry: “lain behind.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lain_behind. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.