Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use belay in a sentence

11 example sentences · verb, noun

Belay means to make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat. Example: “He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.”

Examples of belay by meaning

verbTo handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.

  • He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.
  • I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall.

verbTo lay aside; to stop; to cancel.

  • Belay that order!
  • No, belay that.2015 February 1, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary, archived from the original on 14 May 2024

nounA location at which a climber stops and builds an anchor with which to secure their partner.

  • But instead of swapping over at the ice axe belay, you carry on in the lead, cutting or kicking steps until you are about twenty feet above.1967, Anthony Greenbank, Instructions in Mountaineering, page 84

More sentences with belay

  • Some continuously steep routes with numerous hanging belays necessitate a belay seat or butt bag.1999, Mark Twight, James Martin, Extreme Alpinism: Climbing Light, High, and Fast, →ISBN. From the entry butt bag
  • Jacob handed her the ATC belay device and jumar.2019, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift, Hogarth, page 552. From the entry jumar
  • “She's going to learn to belay while I'm climbing?2016, Kristin Lenz, Art of Holding On and Letting Go, Elephant Rock Books, →ISBN. From the entry rainbow
  • In a harness belay, the stance itself is the belayer's first line of defense, reducing the load the anchor must hold.2004, Mark Houston, Kathy Cosley, “Snow and Ice”, in Alpine Climbing: Techniques to Take You Higher, Seattle, Wash.: The Mountaineers…. From the entry stance
  • A wire brush, a nut pick, jumars and etriers all clip onto his harness and his butt bag (belay seat) goes into his pocket.1986, New Zealand Alpine Journal - Volume 39, page 113. From the entry butt bag
  • It was a technical ascent involving ropework, belays, and protection, and the exposure was great, but there were abundant hand and footholds, and the rock was sound.2014, Stephen C. Sieberson, The Naked Mountaineer: Misadventures of an Alpine Traveler. From the entry technical

Meaning of belay

  1. verb To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
  2. verb To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.
  3. verb To lay aside; to stop; to cancel.

Full definition of belay

Questions about belay in a sentence

How do you use belay in a sentence?
Belay is used as a verb and noun. For example: “He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.”
What is a short sentence with belay?
“Belay that order!”
What does belay mean?
Belay means to make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: belay (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use belay in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/belay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.