/laɪ ||; laɪ/verb [I] (
present participle lying;past tense lay /leɪ
||; le/
past participle lain /leɪn
||; len/)
1 to be in or move into in a flat or horizontal position (so that you are not standing or sitting): He lay on the sofa and went to sleep. 他躺在沙发上睡着了。to lie on your back/side/front 仰卧；侧卧；俯卧The book lay open in front of her. 那本书摊开在她面前。
Remember that lie cannot be used with an object. If you put an object in a flat position you lay it down. 请注意，lie后面不能接宾语。把对象平放叫做lay it down。2 to be or stay in a certain state or position 处于或维持某状态或位置: Snow lay thick on the ground. 地上积了一层厚厚的雪。The hills lie to the north of the town. 小镇的北面有山。They are young and their whole lives lie ahead of them. 他们还年轻，来日方长呢。
3 lie (in sth) to exist or to be found somewhere 存在: The problem lies in deciding when to stop. 问题在于决定何时停止。
lie in wait (for sb) to hide somewhere waiting to attack, surprise or catch sb 埋伏以待；伏击；出其不意地逮住某人
lie low to try not to attract attention to yourself 不想引人注意
lie about/around to relax and do nothing 闲着不做事
lie back to relax and do nothing while sb else works, etc （别人工作的时候自己却）闲着不做事
lie behind sth to be the real hidden reason for sth 是…的真正原因:
We may never know what lay behind his decision to resign. 他决定辞职的真正原因，我们也许永远不会知道。 lie down (used about a person) to be in or move into a flat or horizontal position so that you can rest （指人）躺着，躺下
☞A related expression is have a lie-down. 相关的说法为have a lie-down。 lie in(
informal 非正式) to stay in bed later than usual because you do not have to get up 赖着不起床，睡懒觉（通常因为不必起床）
☞A related expression is have a lie-in. 相关的说法为have a lie-in。 ☞Compare oversleep. 与oversleep比较。 lie with sb(
informal 非正式) to be sb's responsibility to do sth 是…的责任；取决于（某人）