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lay of the land

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
lay of the land 
1. Lit. the arrangement of features on an area of land. (Also with lie, especially British English.) The surveyor mapped the lay of the land. The geologist studied the lay of the land, trying to determine if there was oil below.
2. Fig. the arrangement or organization of something other than land. As soon as I get the lay of the land in my new job, things will go better. The company's corporate structure was complex, so understanding the lay of the land took time.
See also: land, lay


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? References in classic literature
The night was pretty dark, with neither moon nor stars visible, and as Brower had never dwelt thereabout, and knew nothing of the lay of the land, he was, naturally, not long in losing himself.
But I didn't mind, because I didn't want to see nobody just yet -- I only wanted to get the lay of the land.
You see, I've just got to locate the lay of the land.
 
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