lay out
/ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/
"lay-out" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lay out” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lay-out · lay out · English
lay out · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lay out |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lay out” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lay out is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.
lay out doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From lay + out. The correct English form is lay out, spelled L-A-Y- -O-U-T.
Definition
- 1To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase.
- 2To arrange (physically) in a certain way, so as to spread or space apart; to display (e.g. merchandise or a collection).
- 3To explain; to interpret.
- 4To arrange; to design; to concoct; to think up.
- 5To prepare a body for burial.
- 6To render (someone) unconscious; to knock out; to cause to fall to the floor; to kill.
- 7To scold or berate.
- 8To cease playing one's instrument.
- 9To sunbathe.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lay out appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She laid out hundreds of dollars to throw a great party.
[…] you must endeavour to take off your Mistress from all the care you can, giving to her a just and true account of what moneys you lay out for her, shewing your self thrifty in all your disbursements.
Etymology
From lay + out.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.