A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

lay down one’s job • lie down on the job
lay down one’s job —(also: lay down one’s office) resign from
a position of power or responsibility: Buddy Darden is just
one of the people who was brave enough to lay down his job
in Congress.
lie down on the job —be irresponsible or careless in one’s job;
fail to work as hard as one should: After a few months … they
get tired of the whole business and lie down on the job.
lay figure • lay person
lay figure —
1
. a wooden figure of the human body, used as
a model for the arrangement of draperies, etc.: Her aunt asked
her to stand as a sort of lay figure on which to display them
[shawls]. 2. smb. of little importance; an insignificant person:
At chapel the registrar is the important person, and the offi-
ciating minister is a mere lay figure. 3. a character in fiction
lacking in the attributes of reality: The women are not so well
drawn as the men, but Mrs. Gall, while conventional, is not
a lay figure.
lay person —(also: layman) a non-expert in relation to some
particular profession: The twentieth century has obliterated
the skilled amateur and widened the gap between the technical
professional and the lay person.
lay of the land • lay the land
lay of the land —(also: lie of the land) the state of affairs: I
think my success was due to my waiting and not rushing in
before I saw the lay of the land.
lay the land —(Nautical) sail out to such a distance as to
lose sight of land: We found ourselves to be at the distance of
seven leagues to the westward of the island. About noon that
day we had laid the land.
lay one’s hands on something • lay one’s hands to
something
lay one’s hands on something —(also: put one’s hands on some-
thing) 
1
. find or locate smth.: I can’t lay my hands on the
account book — have you seen it? 2. gain possession of smth.:
I’d like to know where I can lay my hands on that special
tobacco.
lay one’s hands to something —start work on smth.; engage
in smth.: In John Gollan’s words, “there is no more noble task
to which we could lay our hands.”