Word.ws English Dictionary

lying in wait

lying in wait noun: the act of hiding and waiting for someone with the intent to kill or inflict serious bodily harm to them. Also the present participle and gerund of lie in wait.

Noun

lying in wait (uncountable)

  1. The act of hiding and waiting for someone with the intent to kill or inflict serious bodily harm to them.

Also used as

lying in wait is also the present participle and gerund of lie in wait.

Questions about lying in wait

What does lying in wait mean?
Lying in wait means the act of hiding and waiting for someone with the intent to kill or inflict serious bodily harm to them.
What part of speech is lying in wait?
Lying in wait is a noun.

Words near lying in wait in the dictionary

  1. lying in one's throat
  2. lying in repose
  3. lying in state
  4. lying in the bed one has made
  5. lying in the way
  6. lying in wait
  7. lying like a cheap rug
  8. lying like a cheap watch
  9. lying like a dog
  10. lying like a rug
  11. lying low

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lying in wait (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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