What does waylaying mean?
Waylaying is the act of waiting in concealment for someone and then attacking, robbing, or intercepting them, especially on a road or along a route. The related verb waylay has a strong implication of a deliberately prepared surprise, so the word is more threatening than the general word attack and more specific than intercept. “Waylaying” can function as a noun, as in a report of the waylaying of a courier, or as the present participle of waylay, as in a statement that armed men were waylaying a convoy. The expression has a somewhat literary and historical tone, but it remains effective in journalism, fiction, and accounts of ambushes. Its interest lies in its vivid image of danger concealed beside the way: the traveler becomes the target not of a spontaneous assault, but of a trap that has already been set.
The act of lying in wait to attack, rob, or intercept someone.
"The report describes the waylaying of a delivery driver near the docks."
The plural is possible but uncommon; the singular predominates in ordinary usage.
Lying in wait to attack or intercept someone, especially from concealment.
"The soldiers were waylaying the convoy from the wooded slope."
This is the present participle of waylay and normally appears with a form of be.
A rare plural, formed by adding -s to the noun.
"The archives record several waylayings along the old trade route."
Waylaying turns an ordinary road into a battlefield: the danger comes not from the traveler but from what waits beside the way.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of waylaying
Waylaying is formed from waylay with the ending -ing and functions both as a gerund and as a noun denoting the activity. The English verb waylay dates from the early 17th century and is formed from way and lay, originally referring to placing an obstacle or an attacker in someone’s path. Words such as belay, overlay, and underlay share the older root represented by lay, although they do not reproduce the complete compound.
Related word forms
How waylaying is actually used
Waylaying is literary and somewhat dated in ordinary prose; ambush or intercept is often more natural in modern usage. As a present participle, it normally follows a form of be, as in “They were waylaying travelers.”