Word.ws English Dictionary

lay a foundation

lay a foundation verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lay, foundation.

Verb

lay a foundation (third-person singular simple present lays a foundation, present participle laying a foundation, simple past and past participle laid a foundation)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lay, foundation.
  2. To elicit information from a witness to show that the witness has knowledge of a matter before the witness testifies to the matter itself.
    • In order to lay a foundation for the witness to describe the murder, the prosecutor first had to show that the witness was present when the murder occurred.
  3. (figuratively) To make a start.
    • You should lay a foundation, even if you can't finish the project.

lay a foundation meaning in Tamil

lay a foundation in Tamil

சாட்சியத்தை உறுதிபடுத்துதல்

Forms of lay a foundation

third-person singular presentlays a foundation
present participlelaying a foundation
past participlelaid a foundation
pastlaid a foundation

Origin of lay a foundation

Figurative senses from the idea of laying a foundation as the first step in constructing a building.

Questions about lay a foundation

What does lay a foundation mean?
Lay a foundation means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lay, foundation.
What is lay a foundation in Tamil?
Lay a foundation in Tamil is சாட்சியத்தை உறுதிபடுத்துதல். See Lay a foundation meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is lay a foundation?
Lay a foundation is a verb.
What is the past tense of lay a foundation?
The past tense of lay a foundation is laid a foundation.

Words near lay a foundation in the dictionary

  1. laxtose
  2. laxumin
  3. Laxå
  4. lay
  5. lay a finger on
  6. lay a foundation
  7. lay a glove on
  8. lay a hand on
  9. lay a trip on
  10. lay a venue
  11. lay about

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lay a foundation (page history and authors); lay a foundation (Tamil Wiktionary) (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: “lay a foundation.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lay_a_foundation. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.