The difference between Lay and Make

When used as nouns, lay means arrangement or relationship, whereas make means brand or kind.

When used as verbs, lay means to place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position, whereas make means to build, construct, or produce.


Lay is also adjective with the meaning: non-professional.

check bellow for the other definitions of Lay and Make

  1. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To place down in a position of rest, or in a horizontal position.

    Examples:

    "to lay a book on the table; to lay a body in the grave"

    "A shower of rain lays the dust."

    "A corresponding intransitive version of this word is [[lie#Etymology_1 lie]]."

  2. Lay as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To cause to subside or abate.

  3. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To prepare (a plan, project etc.); to set out, establish (a law, principle).

  4. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To install certain building materials, laying one thing on top of another.

    Examples:

    "lay brick; lay flooring"

  5. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To produce and deposit an egg.

  6. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To bet (that something is or is not the case).

    Examples:

    "I'll lay that he doesn't turn up on Monday."

  7. Lay as a verb (transitive):

    To deposit (a stake) as a wager; to stake; to risk.

  8. Lay as a verb (transitive, slang):

    To have sex with.

  9. Lay as a verb (nautical):

    To take a position; to come or go.

    Examples:

    "to lay forward; to lay aloft"

  10. Lay as a verb (legal):

    To state; to allege.

    Examples:

    "to lay the venue"

    "rfquotek Bouvier"

  11. Lay as a verb (military):

    To point; to aim.

    Examples:

    "to lay a gun"

  12. Lay as a verb (ropemaking):

    To put the strands of (a rope, a cable, etc.) in their proper places and twist or unite them.

    Examples:

    "to lay a cable or rope"

  13. Lay as a verb (printing):

    To place and arrange (pages) for a form upon the imposing stone.

  14. Lay as a verb (printing):

    To place (new type) properly in the cases.

  15. Lay as a verb:

    To apply; to put.

  16. Lay as a verb:

    To impose (a burden, punishment, command, tax, etc.).

    Examples:

    "to lay a tax on land"

  17. Lay as a verb:

    To impute; to charge; to allege.

  18. Lay as a verb:

    To present or offer.

    Examples:

    "to lay an indictment in a particular county; to lay a scheme before one"

  1. Lay as a noun:

    Arrangement or relationship; layout.

    Examples:

    "the lay of the land"

  2. Lay as a noun:

    A share of the profits in a business.

  3. Lay as a noun:

    A lyrical, narrative poem written in octosyllabic couplets that often deals with tales of adventure and romance.

  4. Lay as a noun:

    The direction a rope is twisted.

    Examples:

    "Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way."

  5. Lay as a noun (colloquial):

    A casual sexual partner.

    Examples:

    "What was I, just another lay you can toss aside as you go on to your next conquest?"

  6. Lay as a noun (colloquial):

    An act of sexual intercourse.

  7. Lay as a noun (slang, archaic):

    A plan; a scheme.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Charles Dickens"

  8. Lay as a noun:

    the laying of eggs.

    Examples:

    "The hens are off the lay at present."

  9. Lay as a noun (obsolete):

    A layer.

  1. Lay as a noun:

    A lake.

  1. Lay as an adjective:

    Non-professional; not being a member of an organized institution.

  2. Lay as an adjective:

    Not belonging to the clergy, but associated with them.

    Examples:

    "They seemed more lay than clerical."

    "a lay preacher; a lay brother"

  3. Lay as an adjective (obsolete):

    Not educated or cultivated; ignorant.

  1. Lay as a verb:

    when pertaining to position.

    Examples:

    "The baby lay in its crib and slept silently."

  2. Lay as a verb (proscribed):

    To be in a horizontal position; to lie (from confusion with lie).

  1. Lay as a noun:

    A ballad or sung poem; a short poem or narrative, usually intended to be sung.

  1. Lay as a noun (obsolete):

    A meadow; a lea.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Dryden"

  1. Lay as a noun (obsolete):

    A law.

  2. Lay as a noun (obsolete):

    An obligation; a vow.

  1. Lay as a verb (Judaism, transitive):

    To don or put on (tefillin ).

  1. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To create. To build, construct, or produce. To write or compose. To bring about; to effect or produce by means of some action. To create (the universe), especially from nothing.

    Examples:

    "We made a bird feeder for our yard."

    "I'll make a man out of him yet."

    "I made a poem for her wedding."

    "He made a will."

    "'make war"

    "They were just a bunch of ne'er-do-wells who went around making trouble for honest men."

    "God made earth and heaven."

  2. Make as a verb (intransitive, now mostly, _, colloquial):

    To behave, to act.

    Examples:

    "To make like a deer caught in the headlights."

    "They made nice together, as if their fight never happened."

    "He made as if to punch him, but they both laughed and shook hands."

  3. Make as a verb (intransitive):

    To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.

  4. Make as a verb:

    To constitute.

    Examples:

    "They make a cute couple."

    "This makes the third infraction."

    "One swallow does not a summer make."

  5. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To add up to, have a sum of.

    Examples:

    "Two and four make six."

  6. Make as a verb (intransitive, construed with ''of'', typically interrogative):

    To interpret.

    Examples:

    "I don’t know what to make of it."

  7. Make as a verb (transitive, usually stressed):

    To bring into success.

    Examples:

    "This company is what made you."

    "She married into wealth and so has it made."

  8. Make as a verb (ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle):

    To cause to be.

    Examples:

    "synonyms render"

    "The citizens made their objections clear."

    "This might make you a bit woozy."

    "Did I make myself heard?"

    "Scotch will make you a man."

  9. Make as a verb:

    To cause to appear to be; to represent as.

  10. Make as a verb (ditransitive, second object is a verb):

    To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).

    Examples:

    "You're making her cry."

    "I was made to feel like a criminal."

  11. Make as a verb (ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity):

    To force to do.

    Examples:

    "The teacher made the student study."

    "Don’t let them make you suffer."

  12. Make as a verb (ditransitive, of a fact):

    To indicate or suggest to be.

    Examples:

    "His past mistakes don’t make him a bad person."

  13. Make as a verb (transitive, of a bed):

    To cover neatly with bedclothes.

  14. Make as a verb (transitive, US, _, slang):

    To recognise, identify.

  15. Make as a verb (transitive, colloquial):

    To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.

    Examples:

    "We should make Cincinnati by 7 tonight."

  16. Make as a verb (intransitive, colloquial):

    To proceed (in a direction).

    Examples:

    "They made westward over the snowy mountains."

    "'Make for the hills! It's a wildfire!"

    "They made away from the fire toward the river."

  17. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To cover (a given distance) by travelling.

  18. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To move at (a speed).

    Examples:

    "The ship could make 20 knots an hour in calm seas."

    "This baby can make 220 miles an hour."

  19. Make as a verb:

    To appoint; to name.

  20. Make as a verb (transitive, slang):

    To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).

  21. Make as a verb (intransitive, colloquial, euphemistic):

    To defecate or urinate.

  22. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).

    Examples:

    "They hope to make a bigger profit."

    "He didn't make the choir after his voice changed."

    "She made ten points in that game."

  23. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To pay, to cover (an expense);

  24. Make as a verb (obsolete, intransitive):

    To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Chaucer"

    "rfquotek Tennyson"

  25. Make as a verb:

    To enact; to establish.

  26. Make as a verb:

    To develop into; to prove to be.

    Examples:

    "She'll make a fine president."

  27. Make as a verb:

    To form or formulate in the mind.

    Examples:

    "'make plans"

    "'made a questionable decision"

  28. Make as a verb:

    To perform a feat.

    Examples:

    "'make a leap"

    "'make a pass"

    "'make a u-turn"

  29. Make as a verb (obsolete):

    To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.

  30. Make as a verb (obsolete):

    To increase; to augment; to accrue.

  31. Make as a verb (obsolete):

    To be engaged or concerned in.

  32. Make as a verb (now, archaic):

    To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective .

  33. Make as a verb (transitive, euphemism):

    To take the virginity of.

  34. Make as a verb (transitive):

    To have sexual intercourse with.

  1. Make as a noun (often of a car):

    Brand or kind; often paired with model.

    Examples:

    "What make of car do you drive?"

  2. Make as a noun:

    How a thing is made; construction.

  3. Make as a noun:

    Origin of a manufactured article; manufacture.

    Examples:

    "The camera was of German make."

  4. Make as a noun (uncountable):

    Quantity produced, especially of materials.

  5. Make as a noun (dated):

    The act or process of making something, especially in industrial manufacturing.

  6. Make as a noun:

    A person's character or disposition.

  7. Make as a noun (bridge):

    The declaration of the trump for a hand.

  8. Make as a noun (physics):

    The closing of an electrical circuit.

  9. Make as a noun (computing):

    A software utility for automatically building large applications, or an implementation of this utility.

  10. Make as a noun (slang):

    Recognition or identification, especially from police records or evidence.

  11. Make as a noun (slang, usually in phrase "easy make"):

    Past or future target of seduction (usually female).

  12. Make as a noun (slang, military):

    A promotion.

  13. Make as a noun:

    A home-made project

  14. Make as a noun (basketball):

    A made basket.

  1. Make as a noun (dialectal):

    Mate; a spouse or companion.

  1. Make as a noun (Scotland, Ireland, Northern England, now, rare):

    A halfpenny.