Belay Definition
bĭ-lā
belayed, belaying, belays
verb
To secure or make fast (a rope, for example) by winding on a cleat or pin.
American Heritage
To make (a rope) secure by winding around a belaying pin, cleat, piton, etc.; hold fast.
Webster's New World
To provide security to (a climber) by paying out or drawing in rope, often through a braking device, in readiness to break a potential fall.
American Heritage
To hold; stop.
Belay there!
Webster's New World
To cause to stop.
American Heritage
noun
The act of belaying a climber.
American Heritage
Action, method, or place of securing a hold for a rope in mountain climbing.
Webster's New World
A system of ropes and anchors by which a climber is belayed.
American Heritage
(climbing) The securing of a rope to a rock or other projection.
Wiktionary
(climbing) The object to which a rope is secured.
Wiktionary
Origin of Belay
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From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English belecgan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), equivalent to be- + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).
From Wiktionary
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Middle English bileggen to surround from Old English belecgan legh- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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