lay low

lay low verb: to topple or overcome; to cause to fall; (of a person) to knock out. Also the simple past of lie low.

Verb (1)

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

(transitive) To topple or overcome; to cause to fall; (of a person) to knock out.
- He was laid low by a vicious blow to the head.
- The dragon's ire, more fierce than fire, laid low their towers and houses frail.1937, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
(transitive) To put in an abject condition.
- My lover had remained in New York with her family because she had picked up the plague, or something just as bad, that had laid her quite low.1979 April 28, Nancy Walker, “A Case of Mistaken Identity”, in Gay Community News, page 19

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

(informal, proscribed, sometimes) To lie low, to be inconspicuous, especially when the potential object of search.
- We lay low until the shell went over and then would straighten up again.1904, A Committee of the Survivors, History of the Twelfth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, in The Civil War, page 219
- Me and Dave layed low^([sic]) until then, and I guess the whole dummed town was at Philemon's that night.1909, “Field and Stream”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 14, page 540

lay low is also the simple past of lie low.

Since you are trying to lay low, your effort should take the form of a suggestion at the least or a modest proposal at the most.1997, Richard Herschlag, Brian Harris, Lay Low and Don't Make the Big Mistake, page 84:
Bennett believed that he would lay low for a few years before bringing out another team of terrorists.2012, Mitt Romney, Timothy Robinson, Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games:
In the meantime, he would lay low—not make waves if he could help it.2012, Jane Dews, The Cuckoo's Song, page 18:
Say, “The first step for changing a reputation is to lay low.2013, Elizabeth A. Laugeson, The PEERS® Curriculum for School Based Professionals:

third-person singular present	lays low
present participle	laying low
past participle	laid low
past	laid low
past participle	lay low
past	lay low

What does lay low mean?: Lay low means to topple or overcome; to cause to fall; (of a person) to knock out.
How do you use lay low in a sentence?: Since you are trying to lay low, your effort should take the form of a suggestion at the least or a modest proposal at the most.
What part of speech is lay low?: Lay low is a verb.
What is the past tense of lay low?: The past tense of lay low is laid low.

Adapted from Wiktionary: lay low (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “lay low.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lay_low. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.