lay-up

US: (lā′up′)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

lay-up  (lā′up′), n. 

1. Sport [Basketball.] a shot with one hand from a point close to the basket, in which a player shoots the ball toward the basket, often off the backboard.
2. the operation of assembling veneers for pressing into plywood.
3. the operation of applying alternate layers of material and a binder to form a bonded material.
4. Clothing lay¹ (def. 64).

Also, lay′up′. 

• noun, nominal use of verb, verbal phrase lay up 1940–45