Word Frequency
life (laɪf
)
Definitions
noun
Word forms: plural lives (laɪvz
)
) - the state or quality that distinguishes living beings or organisms from dead ones and from inorganic matter, characterized chiefly by metabolism, growth, and the ability to reproduce and respond to stimuli related adjectives animate vital
- the period between birth and death
- a living person or being ⇒
to save a life
- the time between birth and the present time
-
- the remainder or extent of one's life
- (as modifier) ⇒
a life sentence
,life membership
,life subscription
,life work
- short for life imprisonment
- the amount of time that something is active or functioning ⇒
the life of a battery
- a present condition, state, or mode of existence ⇒
my life is very dull here
-
- a biography
- (as modifier) ⇒
a life story
-
- a characteristic state or mode of existence ⇒
town life
- (as modifier) ⇒
life style
- a characteristic state or mode of existence ⇒
- the sum or course of human events and activities
- liveliness or high spirits ⇒
full of life
- a source of strength, animation, or vitality ⇒
he was the life of the show
- all living things, taken as a whole ⇒
there is no life on Mars
,plant life
- sparkle, as of wines
- strong or high flavour, as of fresh food
- modifier (arts) drawn or taken from a living model ⇒
life drawing
,a life mask
- (physics) another name for lifetime
- (in certain games) one of a number of opportunities of participation
-
See as large as life
-
See larger than life
-
See come to life
-
See for dear life
-
See go for your life
-
See not on your life
-
See to the life
-
See true to life
Word Origin
Old English līf; related to Old High German lib, Old Norse līf life, bodySynonyms
View thesaurus entryQuotations including 'life'
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more; it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing"
"The unexamined life is not worth living"
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards"
"Life is a comedy to those that think, and a tragedy to those that feel"
"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot"
"Life is long to the miserable, but short to the happy"
"The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale"
"Life exists in the universe only because the carbon atom possesses certain exceptional qualities"
"Life is an abnormal business"
"Life is fired at us point blank"
"There is only one minute in which you are alive, this minute - here and now. The only way to live is by accepting each minute as an unrepeatable miracle. Which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable"
"Look to this dayFor it is life, the very life of life"
The Sufi"In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world - but shall smile at the infinite delight and mystery of it"
"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life"
"What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time; it is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset"
"Oh, what a day-to-day business life is"
"Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!"
"Life is just one damned thing after another"
"Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television"
"Lift not the painted veil which those who liveCall Life"
"Life is one long process of getting tired"
"There is no wealth but life"
"Every man regards his own life as the New Year's Eve of time"
"Life isn't all beer and skittles"
"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about"
"The meaning of life is that it stops"
"It is the essence of life that it exists for its own sake"
"Old and young, we are all on our last cruise"
"Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed"
"'Tis all a chequer-board of nights and daysWhere Destiny with men for pieces plays;Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,And one by one back in the closet lays"
"Life is real! Life is earnest!And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul"
"Life begins at forty"
Translations for 'life'
- British English: life Life is the quality which people, animals, and plants have when they are not dead....a baby's first minutes of life.laɪf NOUN
- Arabic: حَيَاْةٌ
- Brazilian Portuguese: vida
- Chinese: 生命
- Croatian: život
- Czech: život
- Danish: liv
- Dutch: leven
- European Spanish: vidabiología
- Finnish: elämä
- French: vie
- German: Leben Leben
- Greek: ζωή
- Italian: vitaesistenza
- Japanese: 生命
- Korean: 생명
- Norwegian: liv
- Polish: życie
- Portuguese: vida
- Romanian: viață vieți
- Russian: жизнь
- Spanish: vida
- Swedish: liv
- Thai: ชีวิต
- Turkish: yaşam
- Ukrainian: життя
- Vietnamese: cuộc sống
Example Sentences Including 'life'
'The Milan of the Thirties will come back to life at Casa Necchi Campiglio.Country Life (2004)
Added to this is the deliciously lyrical nature of the southern Irish accents which lift straight off the page into life.Glasgow Herald (2001)
He had to tell her to drop out of his life , that he could no longer help her.YESTERDAY'S SHADOW (2002)
I thought about getting married: I realised that I actually wanted to, for the first time in my life.THE EXECUTION (2002)
It is about looking at the areas that create a lot of unhappiness in your life.Glasgow Herald (2001)
No physical life can be eternal, nor can any death be more than a transitionary state.ABORIGINE DREAMING: Introduction to the Wisdom and Thought of the Aboriginal Traditions of Australia (2002)
Our national life can be enriched by the contribution of the new Irish.Irish Times (2002)
Police life had enough skeins to it without getting them tangled.YESTERDAY'S SHADOW (2002)
Using everyday facets of life , she manages to make that trip to the doctor or supermarket a comical event.Irish Times (2002)
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