lie down

What it means

To recline your body horizontally, usually on a bed, sofa, or floor, to rest or sleep. It can also be used figuratively, as in 'lie down and accept it', meaning to give up without fighting.

Examples

• I need to lie down for a few minutes — I have a headache.
• The doctor told her to lie down on the examination table.
• He lay down on the grass and looked up at the clouds.
• We won't just lie down and accept this unfair decision.

Where it comes from

Inseparable. Watch the tricky verb forms: 'lie / lay / lain' for the recline meaning (no object), and don't confuse it with 'lay / laid / laid' (to put something down). So you 'lie down' yourself but 'lay' a book on the table.

Related phrasal verbs