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lay at someone's door

 - 3 dictionary results

door

  [dawr, dohr]
Use lay at someone's door in a Sentence
–noun
1. a movable, usually solid, barrier for opening and closing an entranceway, cupboard, cabinet, or the like, commonly turning on hinges or sliding in grooves.
2. a doorway: to go through the door.
3. the building, house, etc., to which a door belongs: My friend lives two doors down the street.
4. any means of approach, admittance, or access: the doors to learning.
5. any gateway marking an entrance or exit from one place or state to another: at heaven's door.
—Idioms
6. lay at someone's door, to hold someone accountable for; blame; impute.
7. leave the door open, to allow the possibility of accommodation or change; be open to reconsideration: The boss rejected our idea but left the door open for discussing it again next year.
8. lie at someone's door, to be the responsibility of; be imputable to: One's mistakes often lie at one's own door.
9. show someone the door, to request or order someone to leave; dismiss: She resented his remark and showed him the door.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME dore, OE duru door, dor gate; akin to G Tür, ON dyrr, Gk thýra, L foris, OIr dorus, OCS dvĭrĭ

Related forms:
doorless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lay at someone's door
Word Origin & History

door 
M.E. merger of O.E. dor (neut.; pl. doru) "large door, gate," and O.E. duru (fem., pl. dura "door, gate, wicket"), both from P.Gmc. *dur-, from PIE *dhwer-/*dhwor- "a doorway, a door, a gate" (cf. Gk. thura, L. foris, Gaul. doro "mouth," Goth. dauro "gate," Skt. dvárah "door, gate," O.Pers. duvara- "door," O.Prus. dwaris "gate," Rus. dver' "a door"). The base form is frequently in dual or plural, leading to speculation that houses of the original Indo-Europeans had doors with two swinging halves. M.E. had both dure and dor; form dore predominated by 16c., but was supplanted by door.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of." [Ogden Nash]
First record of dooryard is c.1764, Amer.Eng.; doorstep is from 1810.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

lay at someone's door

Impute or lay the blame on someone; make someone responsible for something (usually discreditable). For example, That this law failed to pass can be laid at your door, Senator. [c. 1700]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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