lay about
See also: layabout
English
editVerb
editlay about (third-person singular simple present lays about, present participle laying about, simple past and past participle laid about)
- To strike blows in all directions.
- 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, part 1, canto 2:
- [...] At beating quarters up, or forage, / Behaved herself with matchless courage; / And laid about in fight more busily / Than th' Amazonian Dame Penthesile.
- To set about, with infinitive or gerund.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lay, about.