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PlainSpell

lay out

/ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/verb

lay out is spelled L-A-Y-O-U-T: 6 letters. People search “lay-out vs layout” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, lay out means “To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in lay out?

Letters6: L-A-Y-O-U-T
In writinga phrase: the frequency list counts single words
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you pronounce lay out?

  • /ˌleɪ ˈaʊt/

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lay_out.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-lay_out.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with lay out

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

lay-out vs layout40 G

Also written: layout (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of lay out

  • lays out present, singular, he/she/it
  • laying out participle, present
  • laid out participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does lay out mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To expend or contribute money to an expense or purchase.

    She laid out hundreds of dollars to throw a great party.

  2. 2

    To arrange (physically) in a certain way, so as to spread or space apart; to display (e.g. merchandise or a collection).

    She laid the blocks out in a circle on the floor.

  3. 3

    To explain; to interpret.

    Let me lay it out for you: you're not going to get a better opportunity than this one.

  4. 4

    To arrange; to design; to concoct; to think up.

    He began to lay out the hull for an inexpensive but fast littoral drone.

  5. 5

    To prepare a body for burial.

    They laid him out beautifully on a bier draped in satin.

  6. 6

    UScolloquialTo render (someone) unconscious; to knock out; to cause to fall to the floor; to kill.

    I laid him out on the sidewalk after he tried to grab me.

  7. 7

    colloquialTo scold or berate.

    She really laid him out for taking the money and then lying to try to cover it up.

  8. 8

    colloquialTo cease playing one's instrument.

    Hey man can you lay out on the bridge?

noun

as lay-out
  1. 1

    datedDated form of layout.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Lay out in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Germanausgeben (to expend), auslegen (to arrange in a certain way), darlegen (to explain), aufbahren (to prepare a body before burial)
Spanishencaminar (to expend), impaginar, maquetar (to arrange in a certain way)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does lay out come from?

From lay + out.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after lay out