n. One who or that which lays, in any sense of the verb lay: as, a brick layer; specifically, a hen that lays eggs: as, she is a good layer.n. A thickness of some material laid or resting upon or spread over a surface of any kind; a stratum of moderate thickness: as, a layer of paint; successive layers of clay, shale, and slate; a cake made in layers; the five layers of the muscles of the back.n. In masonry and bricklaying:n. Same as course, 16 .n. A bed of mortar or cement.n. In leather manufacturing, a welt or strengthening strip.n. A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, partly laid under ground for growth or propagation.n. In tanning, a pit or vat containing a strong solution of tannin, in which hides are laid near the end of the tanning process. Also called bloomer-pit.In horticulture, to propagate by bending the shoot of a living stem into the soil, the shoot striking root while still fed by the parent plant.n. In oyster culture, an artificial oyster-bed.n. In cattle-raising, a field or yard in which cattle ready for shipment are kept.n. In phytogeography, one of several strata of plants of different vegetation forms met with in some formations, especially in forests.