lay figure

• POS: Noun Phrase
• HYPHEN: lay fig=ure

OXFORD DICTIONARY

lay figure, n.
1 a dummy or jointed figure of a human body used by artists for arranging drapery on etc.
2 an unrealistic character in a novel etc.
3 a person lacking in individuality.

Etymology

lay f. obs. layman f. Du. leeman f. obs. led joint

THESAURUS

lay figure

Charlie McCarthy, air brush, art paper, brush, bust, camera lucida, camera obscura, canvas, carving, chalk, charcoal, cipher, clay model, crayon, creature, doll, dolly, drawing paper, drawing pencil, drier, dud, dummy, easel, fantoccini, figure, figurehead, figurine, fixative, front, front man, gingerbread man, ground, hollow man, jackstraw, man of straw, manikin, mannequin, marionette, maulstick, medium, mock-up, model, monument, nebbish, nobody, nominal head, nonentity, nothing, nullity, paint, paintbrush, palette, palette knife, pastel, pencil, pigments, pilot model, portrait bust, puppet, pushover, scarecrow, scratchboard, sculpture, siccative, sketchbook, sketchpad, snowman, spatula, spray gun, statuary, statue, statuette, stooge, stump, thing of naught, trifle, varnish, wax figure, waxwork, wood carving, wood model, zero