Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use lie in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Lie means to rest in a horizontal position on a surface. Example: “The book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin.”

Examples of lie by meaning

verbTo 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.
  • Under an oak were lying asleep a pair of shepherds.

verbTo 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...
  • Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill....
  • For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52

verbTo 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
  • The paper does not lie smooth on the wall.

verbUsed with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.

  • It is not clear, however, in what this 'contradiction' lay.1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume III: The Breakdown, Oxford: Clarendon...

verbTo give false information intentionally with intent to deceive.

  • When Pinocchio lies, his nose grows.
  • If you are found to have lied in court, you could face a penalty.
  • Don't lie to me!

verbTo convey a false image or impression.

  • Photographs often lie.

nounAn intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.

  • I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.

nounAnything that misleads or disappoints.

  • The cake is a lie.2007, Erik Wolpaw, Chet Faliszek, Portal

More sentences with lie

  • The nontrivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function may all lie on the critical line.From the entry zero
  • Hikers love the wild country that lies northwest of this river confluence.From the entry country
  • The sacked quarterback was hurting bad. His back ached so bad that he had to lie down.From the entry bad
  • Finally, someone told him the truth. He seems to like to tell lies.From the entry tell
  • So bare-faced that no one can miss such a blatant lie.From the entry blatant
  • Lies are as important as truth, for without lies, the truth is worthless.From the entry worthless
  • We cannot trust him not to lie for his own gain: he's an opportunist and a pragmatist.From the entry pragmatist
  • Most of what they said was, frankly, a pack of lies.From the entry frankly
  • Who would have thunk those guys would have a problem with a little lie?From the entry thunk
  • If you’re going to lie, you might as well tell a bodacious lie.From the entry bodacious
  • When he couldn't think of any more good lies, he just dummied up.From the entry dummy up
  • She got angry at my niece's trying to lie to us.From the entry -'s
  • I've got a day off tomorrow, so I might lie in till about 11.From the entry lie in
  • It lies upon the prosecution to prove that the defendant is guilty.From the entry lie upon
  • The lies had become a hall of mirrors by the time the scam was exposed.From the entry hall of mirrors
  • The imaging technician told him to lie back and then remain still for a minute.From the entry lie back
  • Poor soul! Her man died only the other day, and now she lies abier.From the entry abier
  • Police interrogators don't have to play fair: they are allowed to lie to or coerce a witness.From the entry play fair
  • When caught, he told an absolute lie.From the entry absolute
  • Portugal lies to the west of Spain.From the entry west
  • That story sounds like a pack of lies!From the entry sound
  • The greatest difficulty lies in treating patients with chronic pain.From the entry pain
  • His problems lie deep in the subconscious.From the entry deep
  • The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.From the entry state
  • The blame for starting the fire lies with the arsonist.From the entry blame
  • The English Channel lies between France and England.From the entry channel

Meaning of lie

  1. verb To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
  2. verb To be placed or situated.
  3. verb To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.

Full definition of lie

Questions about lie in a sentence

How do you use lie in a sentence?
Lie is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The book lies on the table; the snow lies on the roof; he lies in his coffin.”
What is a short sentence with lie?
“Photographs often lie.”
What does lie mean?
Lie means to rest in a horizontal position on a surface.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lie (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 lie in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/lie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.