Word.ws English Dictionary

lay at someone's door

lay at someone's door verb: to blame (a problem) on someone; to hold someone responsible for (something). Also the simple past of lie at someone's door.

Verb

lay at someone's door (third-person singular simple present lays at someone's door, present participle laying at someone's door, simple past and past participle laid at someone's door)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To blame (a problem) on someone; to hold someone responsible for (something).
    • Conviction of sin held him like a vice: he saw the lassie's death laid at his door; her face haunted him by day and night, and the word of the Lord dirled in his ears, telling of wrath and punishment.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
    • Likewise, a flop will be laid at his door [James Gunn's door].2025 July 12, Danny Leigh, “Hollywood’s box office superhero returns”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9

Also used as

lay at someone's door is also the simple past of lie at someone's door.

Forms of lay at someone's door

third-person singular presentlays at someone's door
present participlelaying at someone's door
past participlelaid at someone's door
pastlaid at someone's door

Origin of lay at someone's door

Alludes to someone laying incriminating evidence at the door of a guilty person, perhaps during the night. Compare lie at someone's door.

Questions about lay at someone's door

What does lay at someone's door mean?
Lay at someone's door means to blame (a problem) on someone; to hold someone responsible for (something).
What part of speech is lay at someone's door?
Lay at someone's door is a verb.
What is the past tense of lay at someone's door?
The past tense of lay at someone's door is laid at someone's door.

Words near lay at someone's door in the dictionary

  1. lay an anchor to the windward
  2. lay an egg
  3. lay analysis
  4. lay around
  5. lay aside
  6. lay at someone's door
  7. lay at someone's heart
  8. lay away
  9. lay back
  10. lay back and thought of England
  11. lay bare

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lay at someone's door (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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