Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Lay \Lay\, n.
   1. That which lies or is laid or is conceived of as having
      been laid or placed in its position; a row; a stratum; a
      layer; as, a lay of stone or wood. --Addison.

            A viol should have a lay of wire strings below.
                                                  --Bacon.

   Note: The lay of a rope is right-handed or left-handed
         according to the hemp or strands are laid up. See
         {Lay}, v. t., 16. The lay of land is its topographical
         situation, esp. its slope and its surface features.

   2. A wager. ``My fortunes against any lay worth naming.''

   3.
      (a) A job, price, or profit. [Prov. Eng.] --Wright.
      (b) A share of the proceeds or profits of an enterprise;
          as, when a man ships for a whaling voyage, he agrees
          for a certain lay. [U. S.]

   4. (Textile Manuf.)
      (a) A measure of yarn; a lea. See 1st {Lea}
      (a) .
      (b) The lathe of a loom. See {Lathe}, 3.

   5. A plan; a scheme. [Slang] --Dickens.

   {Lay figure}.
      (a) A jointed model of the human body that may be put in
          any attitude; -- used for showing the disposition of
          drapery, etc.
      (b) A mere puppet; one who serves the will of others
          without independent volition.

   {Lay race}, that part of a lay on which the shuttle travels
      in weaving; -- called also {shuttle race}.

2/22/42/8 4/22/44/8 3/23/43/8 6/46/46/8

   {Academy figure}, {Canceled figures}, {Lay figure}, etc. See
      under {Academy}, {Cancel}, {Lay}, etc.

   {Figure caster}, or {Figure flinger}, an astrologer. ``This
      figure caster.'' --Milton.

   {Figure flinging}, the practice of astrology.

   {Figure-of-eight knot}, a knot shaped like the figure 8. See
      Illust. under {Knot}.

   {Figure painting}, a picture of the human figure, or the act
      or art of depicting the human figure.

   {Figure stone} (Min.), agalmatolite.

   {Figure weaving}, the art or process of weaving figured
      fabrics.

   {To cut a figure}, to make a display. [Colloq.] --Sir W.
      Scott.

Source : WordNet®

lay figure
     n : dummy in the form of an artist's jointed model of the human
         body