Phrase guide

lay to rest

verb · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To perform funerary services, especially burial, for someone who has died.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, transitive

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: entomb, inhume, inter, bury
  • He was laid to rest beneath the old oak tree in 1825.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: entomb, inhume, inter, bury

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To close (a matter of dispute).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, transitive

Examples

  • Payment of the court-imposed fine should finally lay this matter to rest.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: put to rest, put to bed, put to sleep

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

place in a grave or tomb

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Stalin was buried behind the Kremlin wall on Red Square
  • The pharaohs were entombed in the pyramids
  • My grandfather was laid to rest last Sunday

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bury, entomb, inhume, inter

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: lay, put down, repose

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.