ly

Noun

light year (plural light years, abbreviation ly)

1. A unit of length used to measure extremely large distances, equal to approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres 10 trillion kilometres (10¹⁶ metres), equivalent to the distance light travels in one Julian year.
   • We live our lives in three dimensions for our threescore and ten allotted years. Yet every branch of contemporary science, from statistics to cosmology, alludes to processes that operate on scales outside of human experience: the millisecond and the nanometer, the eon and the light-year.2012 January, Robert L. Dorit, “Rereading Darwin”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2012, retrieved 11 May 2013-05-11, page 23
2. (figuratively, in plural, informal) A very long way.
   • The marathon runner in the lead is light years ahead of the one at the back.
3. (figuratively, in plural, informal) A very long time.
   • Some of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions were light years ahead of their time.

Verb

lie (third-person singular simple present lies, present participle lying, simple past lay or (colloquial) laid, past participle lain or (colloquial) laid or (obsolete) lien)

1. (intransitive) To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
   • The book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin.
2. (intransitive) To be placed or situated.
   • Ying-yang county lies 70 li southwest of the modern Teng-feng county, Honan.1988, Robin D. S. Yates, “Selected Translations”, in Washing Silk: The Life and Selected Poetry of Wei Chuang (834?-910), Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 100
3. (copulative, intransitive) To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
   • to lie waste; to lie fallow; to lie open; to lie hidden; to lie grieving; to lie under one's displeasure; to lie at the mercy of the waves
4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
   • Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.c. 1690, Jeremy Collier, Of Envy
5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
   • And it came to passe after these things, that his masters wife cast her eyes vpon Ioseph, and shee said, Lie with me.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 39:7
6. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.

See all 22 meanings of lie