1) Terms or conditions of a bargain; price. Ex. 'I bought the articles at a good lay;' 'He bought his goods on the same lay that I did mine.' A low word, used in New England.--Pickering. Probably a contraction for outlay, i. e. expenditure.
2) A word used colloquially in New York and New England in relation to labor or contracts performed upon shares; as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees for a certain lay, i. e. a share of the proceeds of the voyage.
TO LAY
3) To make a bet, or wager. Mr. Davis notices this word as of frequent occurrence.
I'll lay you, he has got drunk again and has lost himself in the woods.--Travels in the United States in 1797.
4) for to lie. A vulgar error equally common in England and in the United States.