Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LAY'ER, n. [la'er. from lay, the verb.]

1. A stratum; a bed; a body spread over another; as, a layer of clay or of sand.
2. A shoot or twig of a plant, not detached from the stock, laid under ground for growth or propagation. – Encyc.
3. A hen that lays eggs. – Mortimer.