belay.
To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
Meaning & usage
To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.
To handle a climbing rope to prevent (a climber) from falling to the ground.
He would need an experienced partner to belay him on the difficult climbs.
I could only hope the remaining piton would belay his fall.
To lay aside; to stop; to cancel.
Belay that order!
The general command to stop or cease.
To surround; to environ; to enclose.
To overlay; to adorn.
To besiege; invest; surround.
To lie in wait for in order to attack; block up or obstruct.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).
The securing of a rope to a rock or other sturdy object.
The object to which a rope is secured.
A location at which a climber stops and builds an anchor with which to secure their partner.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).
simple past of belie (“encompass”)
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.