lie low
to stay hidden or unnoticed
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The fact that neither the White House nor the financial markets viewed the current stakes nearly so high was another significant factor behind Mr. Obama’s LIE-LOW strategy.
(New York Times)
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At one point, the intruders started a fire inside the chancery building, forcing the embassy staff to leave the safe area, climb down a fire escape and exit the building. A small number of police escorted them to a building on the edge of the compound and told them to LIE LOW.
(Fox News)
(New York Times)
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At one point, the intruders started a fire inside the chancery building, forcing the embassy staff to leave the safe area, climb down a fire escape and exit the building. A small number of police escorted them to a building on the edge of the compound and told them to LIE LOW.
(Fox News)
Did you
know?
lie low
verbal phrase
- to try not to be noticed
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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Lie low, as in staying out of sight, is frequently written as "lay low." This is primarily U.S. English usage. As for British English, the Cambridge Dictionary says, "lay is a transitive verb which needs an object to complete its meaning and lie is an intransitive verb which functions without an object and is followed normally by a phrase of place." For example:
lay - She laid (object >) her head on the pillow and immediately fell asleep.
lie - After getting sunburned, her mother told her not to lie (place >) out in the sun again.
However, lay and low can still be used together sometimes. This also requires an object such as in the phrase "lay somebody low." That means to make someone sad (The news of the company layoffs laid her low) or ill (She stayed home from work because she was laid low with the flu).
The expression "lie low" is often used to describe criminals who head underground to avoid detection by the police. Some less-than-bright criminals may have a hard time understanding what this means however. One day a gang boss found one of his crooks sawing the legs off his bed. "What are you doing that for?" the boss demanded to know. "Only doing what you ordered," said the thug. "You told me to lie low for a bit!"
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SYNONYMS
stay out of sight, go underground, keep quiet, go incognito
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"If he's in a bad mood in the morning, try to lie low for a while."
verbal phrase
- to try not to be noticed
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Lie low, as in staying out of sight, is frequently written as "lay low." This is primarily U.S. English usage. As for British English, the Cambridge Dictionary says, "lay is a transitive verb which needs an object to complete its meaning and lie is an intransitive verb which functions without an object and is followed normally by a phrase of place." For example:
lay - She laid (object >) her head on the pillow and immediately fell asleep.
lie - After getting sunburned, her mother told her not to lie (place >) out in the sun again.
However, lay and low can still be used together sometimes. This also requires an object such as in the phrase "lay somebody low." That means to make someone sad (The news of the company layoffs laid her low) or ill (She stayed home from work because she was laid low with the flu).
The expression "lie low" is often used to describe criminals who head underground to avoid detection by the police. Some less-than-bright criminals may have a hard time understanding what this means however. One day a gang boss found one of his crooks sawing the legs off his bed. "What are you doing that for?" the boss demanded to know. "Only doing what you ordered," said the thug. "You told me to lie low for a bit!"
---
SYNONYMS
stay out of sight, go underground, keep quiet, go incognito
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"If he's in a bad mood in the morning, try to lie low for a while."
