How to Use waylay in a Sentence

waylay

verb
  • We were waylaid by a group of kids with water balloons.
  • Gangs sometimes waylay travelers on that road.
  • That injury waylaid Fils for eight months.
    — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 23 May 2026
  • Long-term bonds stick around furhter into the future, when bad stuff can waylay them.
    — Larry Light, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2022
  • Or maybe there were rogue cells already coursing through my rollish veins that might waylay me down the road?
    — Arkansas Online, 17 Nov. 2022
  • If, and when, drones fill the sky, there will inevitably be those who attempt to waylay or damage them.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2016
  • That cartoon homage to Asia was waylaid further by a beef patty too thin and dry.
    — Mike Sutter, ExpressNews.com, 21 Nov. 2019
  • The parade came back last year after waylaying the parade for two years.
    — Hank Sanders, Chicago Tribune, 11 Mar. 2023
  • Her journey, the text portended, might have been waylaid early on by a ring of fire.
    — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Jan. 2020
  • The chances are that a plan will be waylaid or must adapt to the situation at hand as things unfurl.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2024
  • Red is better for bats and insects but can waylay migrating birds.
    — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 13 June 2022
  • Wolves were the creatures, lurking in the shadows outside town, who might waylay or harm us.
    — Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2023
  • What might be done to waylay any further evidence of linkages?
    — Sean Illing, Vox, 29 Nov. 2018
  • An athlete’s demons are never really slayed so much as waylaid.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 1 Feb. 2018
  • The team spent 17 days on board, but much of the work was waylaid by bureaucratic red tape.
    — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Ensure a simple-enough menu stays manageable with a to-do list so you’re not waylaid by days-long side quests.
    — Joseph Hernandez, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The heavily armed men who waylaid the three on a street identified themselves as cops.
    — Patrick J. McDonnell, latimes.com, 24 Apr. 2018
  • For a teenager who showed so much promise, Purdy was often waylaid by bad luck.
    — Julia Prodis Sulek, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2024
  • Those 80-mph wind gusts waylaid air travel and could have aided Denver in the process.
    — Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 6 May 2024
  • Ten minutes into my visit, a boy waylaid the museum staffer who was showing me around.
    — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 22 Feb. 2023
  • This is not the first time the state GOP has tried to waylay Issue 1.
    — Sarah Stankorb, The New Republic, 6 Sep. 2023
  • Children emerge armed from their houses and bands of revelers gather on the sides of the roads ready to waylay passersby.
    — The Conversation, oregonlive, 12 Apr. 2022
  • Then in 1967 he was waylaid in his car by criminals who shot him and killed his wife, Pauline.
    — Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2025
  • If a global health crisis couldn’t waylay them, a few temperamental artists don’t stand a chance.
    — Sarah Medford, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2021
  • An attempt to meet with him in late spring was waylaid, in part, by the fallout from Lewis’s disastrous all-hands meeting.
    — Clare Malone, New Yorker, 12 May 2025
  • Still, plenty of players have had fast starts to their careers only to be waylaid by health issues or bizarre regressions.
    — Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025
  • Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport.
    — Cbs New York Team, CBS News, 2 June 2026
  • Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport.
    — Jake Offenhartz, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2026
  • On the Padres’ meandering stroll to the postseason, they were almost waylaid again by the walk.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The Bulls had one decent season that was waylaid by Lonzo Ball’s knee injury.
    — Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'waylay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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