The Collaborative International Dictionary
Waylay \Way"lay`\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Waylaid; p. pr. & vb. n. Waylaying.] [Way + lay.] To lie in wait for; to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush.
Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto, and Gadshill shall rob those
men that we have already waylaid.
--Shak.
She often contrived to waylay him in his walks.
--Sir
W. Scott.
Wiktionary
n. The act by which somebody is waylaid; an ambush. vb. (present participle of waylay English)
Wikipedia
Waylaying (sometimes called "laywaying") was a term used in the American Old West describing an armed attack whereby the attacker hid himself in ambush and fired upon a passing target. According to late historian C.L. Sonnichsen there were many methods by which frontier feuds were resolved and murder committed;
"Waylaying was not merely tolerated but strongly recommended, and everybody knew that the right way to handle it was to get down behind a bush beside the road, wait till your target for tonight rode past you, and then fire at the place where his suspenders crossed, the steadiest part of the man-horse combination."Usage examples of "waylaying".
What of our claim for waylaying, wounding, and orc-dragging us through Rohan?
Besides, look how ill your grandmother is, you really have something more serious to think about than waylaying a woman who only laughs at you,"
Gar looked from Rowena on his right to Lem on his left and wondered why they bothered waylaying travelers if they had no use for money.
Evidently, on realising that to give the King the paper openly might arouse the suspicions of any members of the Council who were traitors, he had conceived the brilliant idea of waylaying his colleague who was on duty upstairs and by some means or other arranging to take the King's coffee-tray in himself.
While they waited for the other two ambulances to come up Gregory and Gussy got off the driver's seat and, waylaying a lieutenant who was crossing the square, told him what was happening further south.