Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A payment plan in which a buyer reserves an article of merchandise by placing a deposit with the retailer until the balance is paid in full.
- noun An article reserved under such a plan.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Things which have had a
deposit placed on them and which the owner (generally a store) has agreed to hold for the customer and accept full payment at a later time. - noun The system of accepting a deposit and holding for a customer to complete purchase.
- verb To place items
on hold with adeposit at a merchant's.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word layaway.
Examples
-
And business experts who track trends on Google say the number of searches for the term layaway has recently gone way up.
-
Online trends1 show the word "layaway" has doubled in interest among U.S. searchers in
unknown title 2011
-
In some ways, layaway is what happens as you start a business.
-
A Southern California man is the latest so-called "layaway angel" to spread Christmas cheer by paying the balances on hundreds of layaway accounts at a local Kmart store - to the tune of nearly $16,000.
NYDN Rss NANCY DILLON 2011
-
But the idea of layaway online programs is just a recent development that retailers put into action to widen the presence of their layaway services.
EzineArticles 2010
-
Jackie O'Malley of Buffalo, New York, calls the layaway plan a guilty pleasure because "it simply makes you feel better when you pay off the last amount (without ever paying interest) and are able to take home your items."
BlogHer wellheeledblog 2009
-
But assuming you're not totally tapped out and are determined to spend within your budget, your best financial strategy might be to follow an old-fashioned, simple idea - something called layaway plans.
Berks county news 2009
-
A layaway is a low-cost finance method for a customer to make a purchase in installments prior to buying the item.
BlogHer wellheeledblog 2009
-
NEW YORK, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- U.S. retailer Sears is bringing back the purchasing system called layaway this year, marking a small comeback for a plan popular during the Great Depression.
-
Politicians will not be able to resist talking about 'layaway' in this environment, because it provides a way to talk about 'responsibility' that is both new and old at the same time.
Jeffrey Feldman: 10 Phrases That Will Shape Politics In '09 2009
bilby commented on the word layaway
Lay-by in Australia.
"Layaway allows shoppers to pay over time, interest- free, and pick up their merchandise when it's paid in full."
- Anne D'Innocenzio, Consumer strain: Pens and notebooks put on layaway, newsweek.com, 24 August 2009.
August 27, 2009
sionnach commented on the word layaway
That would be buying something on the hire purchase, or - as it is commonly referred to in Ireland - buying it on the never-never.
A lay-by is an area on the side of the highway for cars to pull over, e.g. for drivers to rest or obtain refreshments. No Irish lay-by is named after a football coach; some might be named after saints, however.
August 27, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word layaway
"Pens and notebooks on layaway"—crikey! That's awful!
A local fast-food restaurant here is sponsoring a school-supplies drive. They have a huge table filled with stuff like this—pens, notebooks, etc.—that will be donated to those who can't afford them. I thought it was a good idea, but it's kind of horrifying to think how much it's needed.
August 27, 2009
bilby commented on the word layaway
I'm trying to think of what we call the highway thingy sionnach mentions. Roadside stop? Rest area? Truck bay? Hmmmm. Plethora?
August 27, 2009