Lair or layer?
lair is a noun meaning “A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground”; layer is a noun meaning “A single thickness of some material covering a surface”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) layer is about 15 times as common as lair.
What is the difference between lair and layer?
| lair | layer | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, verb |
| Meaning | A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground A shed or shelter for domestic animals UKTo rest; to dwell | A single thickness of some material covering a surface An item of clothing worn under or over another To cut or divide into layers |
| Example | […] but few knew the reason, and some thought it was because the deceased were strangers, and had no regular lair. I dressed the two bonny… | Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven |
| Forms | lairs | layers |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɛə̯/ [ˈlɛə̯] ~ [ˈlɛː] /ˈlɛː/ | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ [ˈleɪ̯ɚ] ~ [ˈleɪ̯ɹ̩] /ˈlɛɹ/ |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words | 25 times per million words |
Sources: lair and layer in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of lair and layer
lair
- 1
A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground
- 2
UKTo rest; to dwell
- 3
ScotlandA bog; a mire
- 4
ScotlandTo mire
- 5
AustraliacolloquialA person who dresses in a showy but tasteless manner and behaves in a vulgar and conceited way; a show-off
- 6
A shed or shelter for domestic animals
- 7
UKTo lay down
- 8
ScotlandTo become mired
layer
- 1
A single thickness of some material covering a surface
Wrap the loaf in two layers of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven
- 2
To cut or divide into layers
- 3
A person who lays anything, such as tiles or a wager
- 4
An item of clothing worn under or over another
It's cold now but it will warm up this afternoon. Make sure you wear layers
- 5
To arrange in layers
Layer the ribbons on top of one another to make an attractive pattern
- 6
A mature female bird, insect, etc. that is able to lay eggs
As for which hen we'll cull for next Sunday's dinner, we certainly won't eat Henrietta yet – she's still a prime layer
- 7
A (usually) horizontal deposit; a stratum
I find seven-layer cake a bit too rich
- 8
A hen kept to lay eggs; a breed of chicken bred to maximize laying output
We keep a flock of layers and flock of broilers
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, lair or layer?
lair appears 1.7 times per million words; layer 25 times per million words.
lair 1.7 times per million wordslayer 25 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).