laying
/ˈleɪ.ɪŋ/noun, verb
laying is spelled L-A-Y-I-N-G: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, laying means “The act by which something is laid (in any sense)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of laying is layings.
How many letters and syllables are in laying?
| Letters | 6: L-A-Y-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,496th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is laying?
Laying appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce laying?
- /ˈleɪ.ɪŋ/
Laying has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-laying.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of laying
- layings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does laying mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act by which something is laid (in any sense).
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of lay
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).