lay of the land

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

So investors may have been waiting to evaluate the lay of the land.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

"He was obviously a frontrunner for a very long time, and then when the all the different award ceremonies start happening back-to-back, you get a lay of the land."

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

Like many, I’ve previously winced at hop-on, hop-off city bus tours, but around $29 for a 60-minute ride seemed worth it to get the lay of the land in this densely populated place.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2026

"I love turning on terrestrial television in any country that I'm in. It really gives you the lay of the land."

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2025

When I arrived at Chthonia a few minutes later, I did a cloaked flyby of the castle, just to gauge the lay of the land for myself.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline