1
: the action of laying up or the condition of being laid up
2
: a shot in basketball made from near the basket usually by playing the ball off the backboard
laid up; laying up; lays up
1
: to store up : lay by
2
: to disable or confine with illness or injury
a knee injury laid him up for a week
3
: to take out of active service
Examples of layup in a Sentence
Verb
an eating disorder that would impel her to lay up candy bars in her closet for all-night food binges
Recent Examples on the Web
Jenny McCoy, SELF, 18 July 2025
Bates’ two baskets in the second quarter came from inside the paint with two layups.
—Andy Theobald, Kansas City Star, 14 July 2025
Liza B. Zimmerman, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
Female moths can lay up to 500 eggs at a time.7 Pantry moths are most destructive in their larval stage, so discouraging this stage will help prevent the infestation from spreading.
—Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for layup
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Noun
And that holds true whether your goal is to net the playoff-winning layup…or simply make it through another Wednesday night spin class.
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 18 July 2025
Bates’ two baskets in the second quarter came from inside the paint with two layups.
—Andy Theobald, Kansas City Star, 14 July 2025
Verb
The Queen Apparently only the queen bee lays eggs and can lay up to two thousand eggs a day, according to Garrison.
—Liza B. Zimmerman, Forbes.com, 23 July 2025
Female moths can lay up to 500 eggs at a time.7 Pantry moths are most destructive in their larval stage, so discouraging this stage will help prevent the infestation from spreading.
—Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 19 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for layup
Cite this Entry
“Layup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/layup. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
layup
1 of 2 noun
lay·up
ˈlā-ˌəp 
: a basketball shot made from near the basket usually by bouncing the ball off the backboard
lay up
2 of 2 verb1
: to store up
2
: to disable or confine with illness or injury
a knee injury laid her up for a week
3
: to take out of active service
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