[Vocabulary] lay out some patties

[hhtt21]

"He watched the counterman lay out some patties on the grill in preparation for another possible influx, then sit on a chair and begin to read a newspaper."

This is from a scene in the novel and it is clear that counterman is cooking. I looked at the meanings of "lay out" in the dictionaries but it is still difficult to understand it. Would you please explain the use of "lay out" here?

Source: Legion by William Peter Blatty.

https://www.lexico.com/definition/lay

I can't find a workable link so I don't share one.

Thank you.

 

[jutfrank]

He's putting burgers on a grill in a carefully arranged way. It's probably a barbecue.

You can see this sense of lay out in any dictionary.

 

[hhtt21]

He's putting burgers on a grill in a carefully arranged way. It's probably a barbecue.

You can see this sense of lay out in any dictionary.

I think the closest one is this in Oxford: "

Spread something out to its full extent.

‘the police were insisting that suitcases should be opened and their contents laid out’
‘her evening dress was laid out on the bed’

But I don't think it fits here well.

 

[GoesStation]

He's putting burgers on a grill in a carefully arranged way. It's probably a barbecue.

He's a counterman — a cook in a diner, more commonly known in American English as a short-order cook — so the grill is a large, flat, heated cooking surface with a grease trough on one side.

 

[teechar]

https://www.lexico.com/definition/lay

I can't find a workable link so I don't share one.

If you scroll two-thirds down the above page, you'll find an entry under lay something out.

Alternatively, if you type lay something out in the search box, you'll get:
https://www.lexico.com/definition/lay_something_out

 

[hhtt21]

If you scroll two-thirds down the above page, you'll find an entry under lay something out.

Alternatively, if you type lay something out in the search box, you'll get:
https://www.lexico.com/definition/lay_something_out

Workable link was for the novel. I found "lay something out" but I can't understand which of the definitions fit in this context.

 

[SoothingDave]

Imagine you have an empty grill surface. Now, you want to cover it with hamburgers to cook.

 

[teechar]

Workable link was for the novel.

I have no idea what you mean by that. All the links above are for the Oxford Dictionary.

 

[teechar]

Now, you want to cover it with hamburgers to cook.

The surface needn't be covered with patties. "Lay" is more about putting something(s) down somewhere, not necessarily about covering a surface.

 

[hhtt21]

I have no idea what you mean by that. All the links above are for the Oxford Dictionary.

The example is from a novel named "Legion" but I can't find a link for the example sentence, that is I can't link the example to you since I can't find a workable one. Google books does not allow to monitor that part. So it is not workable.

 

[SoothingDave]

The surface needn't be covered with patties. "Lay" is more about putting something(s) down somewhere, not necessarily about covering a surface.

Yes, but to "lay out" you need more than one. Arrange. Still, not necessarily covered, but as a thought experiment, I thought it useful.

 

[hhtt21]

The surface needn't be covered with patties. "Lay" is more about putting something(s) down somewhere, not necessarily about covering a surface.

Yes, "lay" something is "to put something gently" but the example does not use just "lay", it uses "lay out" and the definitions for it don't fit, I think.

1. [FONT=&quot]Spread something out to its full extent.

[/FONT]2. [FONT=&quot]Construct or arrange buildings or gardens according to a plan.

[/FONT] 2.1. [FONT=&quot]Arrange and present material for printing and publication.

[/FONT] 2.2. [FONT=&quot]Explain something clearly and carefully

3. [/FONT]informal Spend a sum of money.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you not understand what it is saying, or are you complaining that the dictionary does not have a definition that fits this use?

 

[hhtt21]

Do you not understand what it is saying, or are you complaining that the dictionary does not have a definition that fits this use?

Imagining that scene is very easy but language is not. Then is he laying the hambergers or laying the hamburgers out? What is the difference between them? I would like to identify the meaning in the link, too.

 

[SoothingDave]

You didn't answer my question.

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, but to "lay out" you need more than one. Arrange. Still, not necessarily covered, but as a thought experiment, I thought it useful.

When you place chess pieces on the board for a game, you're laying them out. That's what the counterman was doing with the hamburger patties.

Hhtt21, I want to remind you again not to get wrapped up in what a dictionary says about a word or phrase instead of using your intelligence to make sense of it in the context you find it in. Dictionaries are indispensable tools when used correctly, but they can't answer every question.

 

[jutfrank]

He's a counterman — a cook in a diner

Oh, yes. I don't know how I managed to miss that.

 

[Yankee]

"He watched the counterman lay out some patties on the grill in preparation for another possible influx, then sit on a chair and begin to read a newspaper."

This is from a scene in the novel and it is clear that counterman is cooking. I looked at the meanings of "lay out" in the dictionaries but it is still difficult to understand it. Would you please explain the use of "lay out" here?

Source: Legion by William Peter Blatty.

https://www.lexico.com/definition/lay

I can't find a workable link so I don't share one.

Thank you.

"Lay out" = 'spread' in that context.

 

[emsr2d2]

Skip to 7:23 of this video. The lady in the video is "laying out" three tarot cards.

 

[hhtt21]

Do you not understand what it is saying, or are you complaining that the dictionary does not have a definition that fits this use?

I understand but I can't be sure exactly when it comes to language.