subs. (common).—See WHOLE CLOTH and WHITE LIE.
Verb. (old).—To be in pawn. For synonyms, see POP.
1609. The Man in the Moone [quoted by NARES, s.v. LIE]. Sir, answered the begger, I have a good suite of apparell in the next village which LIETH not for above eightpence, if you will helpe me to that first I shall thinke myselfe beholding unto you, and will tell you more.
TO LIE LOW, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To conceal one’s thought, or one’s intentions. Also to keep to one’s bed.
1843. W. T. PORTER, ed., The Big Bear of Arkansas, etc., p. 129. ‘LAY LOW and keep dark,’ says I.
1884. T. A. GUTHRIE (‘F. Anstey’), Giant Robe, xxxviii. So you’ve very prudently been LYING LOW till you could get Master Mark off his guard, or till something turned up to help you.
1890. Athenæum, 22 Feb., 241. 2. It becomes clear in the first chapter, or at any rate in the second, that John Ardell’s intended heir is only suppressed, that he is LYING LOW only in a metaphorical sense.
TO LIE OFF, verb. phr. (turf).—To make a waiting race. TO LIE OUT OF ONE’S GROUND = to ‘lie off’ too long, so as to be unable to recover lost ground.
TO LIE AROUND LOOSE, verb. phr. (American).—To loaf; to be out of employment.
TO LIE FLAT, verb. phr. (common).—See TO LIE LOW.
TO LIE LIKE TRUTH, verb. phr. (common).—To lie with verisimilitude and propriety.
1876. C. HINDLEY, ed. The Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, 3. The fraternity … are always supposed, and by common consent allowed, to ‘LIE LIKE TRUTH.’
TO LIE DOWN, verb. phr. (old).—To be brought to bed.
1582. J. LYLY, Euphues and His England [quoted by NARES]. I have brought into the world two children: of the first I was delivered before my friends thought me conceived; of the second, I went a whole yeere big, and yet when every one thought me ready to LIE DOWN, I did then quicken.
1720. The Hartlepool Tragedy [quoted by NARES].
| I promis’d her fair, that I would take care | |
| Of her and her infant, and all things prepare | |
| At Hartlepool town, where she should LIE DOWN; | |
| Poor soul, she believ’d me, as always she’d done. |
TO LIE IN, verb. phr. (Royal Military Academy).—To keep one’s room when supposed to be out on leave.
TO LIE IN STATE, verb. phr. (venery).—To lie between two women.
LIE WITH A LATCHET (or LIE MADE OF WHOLE CLOTH) (common).—An out-and-out falsehood. Also LIE LAID ON WITH A TROWEL.
1653. URQUHART, Rabelais, v. ch. 30. If you hearken to those who will tell you the contrary, you’ll find yourselves damnably mistaken, for that’s a LIE WITH A LATCHET; though ’twas ¾lian. that long-bow man, that told you so, never believe him, for he lies as fast as a dog can trot.
1672. RAY, Proverbial Phrases, 200. That’s a LIE WITH A LATCHET, All the dogs in the town cannot match it.
A LIE NAILED TO THE COUNTER, subs. phr. (common).—A detected falsehood or slander.
1888. Texas Siftings, 20 Oct. ‘That LIE WAS NAILED a good while ago.’ ‘I know it,’ chuckled the C. L., ‘but it is easy enough to pull out the nail.’
1888. Denver Republican, 6 May. The La Junta Tribune has scooped all the papers in the State by NAILING THE first campaign LIE this season.
