waylaid
ˈwā-ˌlād 
; waylaying; waylays
; waylaying; waylays
1
: to lie in wait for or attack (someone) from ambush
… he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a great deal of trouble yet.—
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens2
: to temporarily stop the movement or progress of (someone or something)
The barkeeper, Tony, would come out of his saloon and wait to waylay the men going home. He could always entice a man with a full pocket into his saloon.—Meridel Le Sueur
Meridel Le SueurI can get waylaid by tangential thoughts and associations in mid-sentence, and this leads to parentheses, subordinate clauses, sentences of paragraphic length. I never use one adjective if six seem to me better and, in their cumulative effect, more incisive.—Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Examples of waylay in a Sentence
Gangs sometimes waylay travelers on that road.
We were waylaid by a group of kids with water balloons.
Recent Examples on the Web
Making matters worse, the strike paused waylaid the majority of the plane models making up Boeing’s order backlog.
—Melvin Backman, Quartz, 24 Oct. 2024
Rocky Horror is based on a horror template stretching at least back to 1932’s The Old Dark House: a couple of waylaid, straitlaced travelers end up taking shelter in a house full of freaks.
—Fran Tirado, Them, 15 Oct. 2024
Some experts have cited railroad monopolization as a primary reason electrification efforts keep getting waylaid.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 12 Aug. 2024
The classic is about Michael, an Irish sailor (Welles), who rescues Elsa (Hayworth) when her coach gets waylaid in Central Park and falls for her.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for waylay 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Melvin Backman, Quartz, 24 Oct. 2024
Rocky Horror is based on a horror template stretching at least back to 1932’s The Old Dark House: a couple of waylaid, straitlaced travelers end up taking shelter in a house full of freaks.
—Fran Tirado, Them, 15 Oct. 2024
Some experts have cited railroad monopolization as a primary reason electrification efforts keep getting waylaid.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 12 Aug. 2024
The classic is about Michael, an Irish sailor (Welles), who rescues Elsa (Hayworth) when her coach gets waylaid in Central Park and falls for her.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
See all Example Sentences for waylay
Dictionary Entries Near waylay
Cite this Entry
“Waylay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waylay. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share