1
: the action of laying up or the condition of being laid up
2
: a shot in basketball made from near the basket usually by playing the ball off the backboard
laid up; laying up; lays up
1
: to store up : lay by
2
: to disable or confine with illness or injury
a knee injury laid him up for a week
3
: to take out of active service
Synonyms
Examples of layup in a Sentence
Verb
an eating disorder that would impel her to lay up candy bars in her closet for all-night food binges
Recent Examples on the Web
Andrés Soto, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
Parrish made a corner 3 with 2.4 seconds left for a 72-69 Aztecs win in 2022; Parrish’s late layup last season capped a comeback from five down with 45 seconds left for a 63-62 win.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 May 2024
Per Second Spectrum, Butler shot 44 percent on drives this season (seventh worst in the NBA among players with at least 250 field-goal attempts) and 59 percent on layups and dunks.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024
In the previous two possessions, Karl-Anthony Towns ran through Murray like midnight Taco Bell and Anthony Edwards bullied his way to a hanging layup over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 6 May 2024
Wright left Game 5 briefly in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the mouth while defending a layup attempt by Brown, who was called for an offensive foul on the play with 4:26 left in the opening period.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
The Suns got within two when a turnover by Sabonis led to a layup by Beal with 1:02 to go.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 13 Apr. 2024
The Hornets did have a strong comeback win at Atlanta Wednesday night, with Miles Bridges going coast-to-coast for the winning layup in a 115-114 thriller, but those moments have been few and far between the last couple of years.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 11 Apr. 2024
The eighth-seeded Cougars made their first-ever Final Four appearance a memorable one, rallying in the second half before Minnesota State’s Emily Herzberg ended their season with a banked layup with 0.3 seconds remaining.
—Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2024
Brad Thomas, NBC News, 14 Apr. 2024
Homa, who finished 1-over for the day, took very few chances, laying up on the final two par-5s on Saturday.
—Jordan Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 14 Apr. 2024
Fleas can lay up to 50 eggs daily, leading to rapid infestation.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023
Bees and ants reproduce quickly–a queen can lay up to thousands of eggs in a day.
—Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024
Female bedbugs can deposit one to five eggs a day and may lay up to 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024
Those two moments laid up against each other very nicely.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 13 Oct. 2023
Photographs show soldiers reading them while getting a haircut, laid up in traction and facing various challenging conditions.
—Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023
Females can lay up to seven eggs a day, meaning infestations can spread quickly.
—Leila Sackur, NBC News, 30 Sep. 2023
Noun
Brink then cut inside to get an easy layup for her first professional points.
—Andrés Soto, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024
Parrish made a corner 3 with 2.4 seconds left for a 72-69 Aztecs win in 2022; Parrish’s late layup last season capped a comeback from five down with 45 seconds left for a 63-62 win.
—Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 May 2024
Per Second Spectrum, Butler shot 44 percent on drives this season (seventh worst in the NBA among players with at least 250 field-goal attempts) and 59 percent on layups and dunks.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024
In the previous two possessions, Karl-Anthony Towns ran through Murray like midnight Taco Bell and Anthony Edwards bullied his way to a hanging layup over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
—Troy Renck, The Denver Post, 6 May 2024
Wright left Game 5 briefly in the first quarter after taking an elbow to the mouth while defending a layup attempt by Brown, who was called for an offensive foul on the play with 4:26 left in the opening period.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024
The Suns got within two when a turnover by Sabonis led to a layup by Beal with 1:02 to go.
—Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 13 Apr. 2024
The Hornets did have a strong comeback win at Atlanta Wednesday night, with Miles Bridges going coast-to-coast for the winning layup in a 115-114 thriller, but those moments have been few and far between the last couple of years.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 11 Apr. 2024
The eighth-seeded Cougars made their first-ever Final Four appearance a memorable one, rallying in the second half before Minnesota State’s Emily Herzberg ended their season with a banked layup with 0.3 seconds remaining.
—Ryan Finley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
Amid all the action, on 15, Åberg found the trees off the tee and was forced to lay up on the reachable par 5.
—Brad Thomas, NBC News, 14 Apr. 2024
Homa, who finished 1-over for the day, took very few chances, laying up on the final two par-5s on Saturday.
—Jordan Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 14 Apr. 2024
Fleas can lay up to 50 eggs daily, leading to rapid infestation.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023
Bees and ants reproduce quickly–a queen can lay up to thousands of eggs in a day.
—Popular Science, 29 Feb. 2024
Female bedbugs can deposit one to five eggs a day and may lay up to 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime.
—Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2024
Those two moments laid up against each other very nicely.
—Hunter Ingram, Variety, 13 Oct. 2023
Photographs show soldiers reading them while getting a haircut, laid up in traction and facing various challenging conditions.
—Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2023
Females can lay up to seven eggs a day, meaning infestations can spread quickly.
—Leila Sackur, NBC News, 30 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'layup.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Layup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/layup. Accessed 19 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
layup
1 of 2 noun
lay·up
ˈlā-ˌəp 
: a basketball shot made from near the basket usually by bouncing the ball off the backboard
lay up
2 of 2 verb1
: to store up
2
: to disable or confine with illness or injury
a knee injury laid her up for a week
3
: to take out of active service
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