Fromway +lay, likely acalque ofMiddle Dutchwegelagen(“besetting of ways, lying in wait with evil or hostile intent along public ways”). CompareMiddle Low Germanwegelagen,Germanwegelagern(“to waylay; rob”).
waylay (third-person singular simple presentwaylays,present participlewaylaying,simple past and past participlewaylaidor(nonstandard)waylayed)
- (transitive) Tolie inwait for andattack fromambush.
- Synonyms:ambush,lurk
- (transitive) Toaccost orintercept unexpectedly.
- Synonym:buttonhole
1986 November 24,Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now”, inThe New Yorker[1]:And when some of the friends, the ones who came every day,waylaid the doctor in the corridor, Stephen was the one who asked the most informed questions, who’d been keeping up not just with the stories that appeared several times a week in the Times[…]
to lie in wait for and attack from ambush
to accost or intercept unexpectedly
