lie

To rest with your body flat on a bed, floor, or other surface.

• Lie down and rest.
• She lay on her back in the grass.
• I have lain awake for hours.

How to use it: lie down (You should lie down for a while.); lie on something (He lay on the sofa all afternoon.)

Similar words: recline

Opposites: stand, sit

Common phrases: lie down, lie on something, lie in bed, lie flat

To say or write something you know is not true.

• Please do not lie to me.
• He lied about where he had been.
• Are you lying to protect your friend?

How to use it: lie to someone (He lied to his parents.); lie about something (She lied about her age.)

Similar words: tell lies

Opposites: tell the truth

Common phrases: lie to someone, lie about something, lie under oath

To be in a particular place without moving.

• His coat lies on the floor.
• The letter lay unopened on her desk.
• Old toys were lying under the bed.

How to use it: lie + place (Her keys lay on the kitchen table.)

Similar words: rest, sit

Common phrases: lie on something, lie under something, lie untouched, lie flat

To make something seem different from how it really is.

• The camera can lie.
• These photographs lie about the size of the room.
• Statistics sometimes lie when important details are missing.

Similar words: mislead, deceive

Common phrases: lie about something, camera can lie, numbers never lie

Something someone says or writes that they know is not true.

• That is a lie.
• She told a lie to avoid trouble.
• Nobody believed his lies anymore.

How to use it: lie about something (His story was a lie about his past.)

Similar words: untruth, falsehood

Opposites: truth

Common phrases: tell a lie, a complete lie, lie about something