IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishlie low
Meaning: To stay out of sight and avoid attention.
Example: “After the scandal broke, the senator decided to lie low for a few weeks.”
Origin: Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1600) has "some of us would lie low" for keeping out of harm's way; the sense of hiding to avoid notice, especially from the law, is recorded from 1845. "Lay low" is a common variant.
Equivalents in other languages
French: Faire le mort Literally: To play the dead man- French: Se mettre au vert Literally: To put oneself to the green
More English idioms
- eat one's words To admit that something one said was wrong.
- have a big head To be conceited; to think too highly of oneself.
- have itchy feet To feel a restless urge to travel or move on.
- wait on someone hand and foot To do everything for someone, attending to their every need.
- bare one's teeth To show hostility and a readiness to fight.
- one's eyes are bigger than one's stomach To take more food than one can eat; more broadly, to want more than one can handle.
Explore another collection: Compliments & Insults
Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- Eres más lento que el caballo del malo You're painfully slow — the villain's horse never catches the hero.
- Testa di rapa A blockhead who isn't thinking.
- Du hast doch einen Vogel You're a bit out of your mind.
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