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
Jay King, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2026
Green Mountain finally got its first field goal with 1 minute, 47 seconds left in the half when Ella Cockrum drove for a layup.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 15 Mar. 2026
Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
Female wasps can lay up to 200 eggs a day as long as a host insect is available.
—Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for layup
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Noun
Tatum later blew past Alex Sarr for another layup and converted a transition dunk.
—Jay King, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2026
Green Mountain finally got its first field goal with 1 minute, 47 seconds left in the half when Ella Cockrum drove for a layup.
—Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 15 Mar. 2026
Verb
But thanks to their reproductive vigor — females can lay up to 25,000 eggs in a single season — their numbers quickly hopped out of hand.
—Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 13 Mar. 2026
Female wasps can lay up to 200 eggs a day as long as a host insect is available.
—Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 9 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for layup
Cite this Entry
“Layup.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/layup. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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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