watch from hiding in order to attack or surprise someone The police decided to lie in wait for the bank robbers to appear at the bank.Idiom[s]: lie in wait for sb or sth
Theme: ENTRAPMENT
to wait quietly in ambush for someone or something.• The lion lay in wait for the zebra.• The robber was lying in wait for a victim. v. phr. To watch from hiding in order to attack or surprise someone; to ambush. The driver of the stage-coach knew that the thieves were lying in wait somewhere along the road.
To be waiting in a concealed position [for someone or something], especially in order to surprise. When I'm walking alone at night, I'm always worried that attackers are just lying in wait in the shadows. Agents for the anti-money sector have lain in wait for months to see if the corporation would fall for their new sting operation.Learn more: lie, waitFig. to stay still and hidden, waiting for someone or something. Bob was lying in wait for Anne so he could scold her about something. The assassin lay in wait for his target to approach.Learn more: lie, waitRemain hidden while preparing to attack, as in The opposition was quietly lying in wait for the incumbent to make his first big mistake. This expression originally alluded to physical attacks and is now often used figuratively. [Mid-1400s] Also see lay for. Learn more: lie, wait hide and wait for somebody so that you can attack them: The police think the murderer must have been lying in wait for his victim.Learn more: lie, waitTo ambush, to prepare to attack from a hiding place. This cliché, which dates from the fifteenth century, originally alluded to a physical attack. It was soon being used metaphorically, as by Jonathan Swift in A Tale of a Tub [1704]: “A ring of disciples, who lie in wait to catch their droppings.”Learn more: lie, wait
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