waylaying
noun, verb
waylaying is spelled W-A-Y-L-A-Y-I-N-G: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 79 million words in written English, the 282,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, waylaying means “The act by which somebody is waylaid; an ambush” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of waylaying is waylayings.
How many letters and syllables are in waylaying?
| Letters | 9: W-A-Y-L-A-Y-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 79 million words; the 282,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is waylaying?
Waylaying appears about once in every 79 million words in written English, the 282,993rd 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).
Forms of waylaying
- waylayings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does waylaying mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act by which somebody is waylaid; an ambush.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of waylay
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does waylaying come from?
From waylay + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).