waylay
/weɪˈleɪ/ (bre, ipa) · [wˈelˌe] /weɪˈleɪ/ (ame, ipa) · [wˈelˌe] /ˈwā-ˌlā How to pronounce waylay (audio)/ (ame, mw)
waylay — verb
- waylaypresent simple I / you / we / they
- waylayshe / she / it
- waylaidpast simple
- waylaying-ing form
1. to hide near a path or road and suddenly appear in front of someone, stopping th
to hide near a path or road and suddenly appear in front of someone, stopping them from going any further, often in order to rob, hurt, or force a conversation with them.
Thieves waylaid the delivery truck on a remote road and made off with the packages.
waylay + vehicle on [road]
A reporter waylaid Ms. Chen outside the courthouse and started shouting questions about the trial.
waylaid + person + outside [location]
As Omar walked home through an alley, two men waylaid him and demanded his phone.
Dr. Park tried to waylay the dean after the conference to discuss budget cuts.
Hikers were warned that bandits sometimes waylaid travellers on the forest trails near the border.
- ambush
stronger military or violent connotation; emphasises the surprise attack rather than just stopping someone
- intercept
more neutral and formal; can apply to vehicles, messages, or people; less violent
- accost
specifically about approaching and speaking to someone, often aggressively; does not imply hiding
- lie in wait for
phrasal equivalent; emphasises the period of hiding before the action
- escort
to accompany someone protectively, the opposite of stopping them by force
文法句型
waylay + someone
waylay + someone + prepositional phrase (location)
用法筆記
The object is almost always a person or a moving vehicle. The sense of stopping someone to talk can be neutral (e.g. a journalist stopping a celebrity) but often carries a connotation of aggression or unwanted interruption.