Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to hide oneself away, to keep a low profile; thus n. lay-low, a hideout.

1833		D. Crockett Sketches and Eccentricities 165: I determined to obey one of our backwoods sayings: ‘Lay low and keep dark, stranger’.
1843		W.L. Rede Our Village II iv: Do not break the seal until Bill Bowyer lies low.
1851		‘How Sally Hooter Got Snake-Bit’ in T.A. Burke Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 71: I shut up my fly trap, an’ lay low an’ kep dark!
1866		H.L. Williams N.-Y. After Dark 12: Peeler, lay low, a cop’s coming.
1877		E.L. Wheeler Deadwood Dick in Beadle’s Half Dime Library I:1 80/1: I’ll take you over to my coop, and you can lay low there until this jamboree blows over.
1885		Bulletin (Sydney) 4 July 17/4: There is a dispute between Victoria and South Australia about a piece of territory on the border. William Bede says nothing, but ‘lies low.’.
1894		M.H. Foote Coeur d’Alene 152: ‘Lay low, Mike,’ says he; ‘there’s better men underground than some that’s on top.’.
1907		Bliss From Boniface to Bank Burglar in Hamilton (1952) 46: I told him to be patient and lie low.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 288: I got to lie under a bit, till it’s blown over.
1917		‘A-No. 1’ From Coast to Coast with Jack London 55: Laying low in our retreat, we heard him herding and then leading his prisoners away.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 603: He ought to have done away with himself or lain low for a time after Committee Room no. 15 until he was his old self again with no-one to point a finger at him.
1926		Odum & Johnson Negro Workaday Songs 62: Layin’ low, never know / When de cops about.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Social Error’ Runyon on Broadway (1954) 457: Handsome Jack promises to lay low a few weeks.
1949		W.R. Burnett Asphalt Jungle in Four Novels (1984) 217: We’re going to lay low for a while.
1955		‘Blackie’ Audett Rap Sheet 42: Then he hid his men around the woodshed and places and laid low until daylight.
1969		B. Mason Awatea (1978) 33: You go back with Jammy now and lie lower than a snake.
1976		H. Leonard Time Was (1981) Act II: Either they’ve sheared off or they’re lying low behind the privet.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 195: Jimmy Burke was laying low ever since Lufthansa.
1999		Indep. on Sun. Real Life 6 June 3: Lie low for a few weeks to make him curious.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 200: Now just go lie low someplace, all right?
2011		J.J. Connolly Viva La Madness 288: I need a laylow. Till I know the score.

2. see lay back v.