Definition of Lai-by

(UK) An area at the side of a road for drivers to stop in, with larger ones possibly having facilities like food vendors or public telephones.
(AU) A method of retail purchase where the customer chooses goods and the shop sets them aside and lets the customer pay them off over time, with the customer receiving them when fully paid.
      1930: Avail yourself of our Lay-By Servise — Hordern Brothers (a Sydney retailer) advertisement, 16 October 1930.
      1931: enables you to secure Sale Bargains without the necessity of paying in full at once. Leave a deposit, pay the balance as it suits you, and on the completion of payments the goods will be delivered in the usual way. No interest is charged. — Anthony Hordern (another Sydney retailer), advertisement describing what they called their D.P.S., January 1931
      Both quoted in Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966, chapter X, section 2, page 206.

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