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 animatevital
- 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 for the life of one
- See go for your life
- See a matter of life and death
- See not on your life
- See the life and soul
- See the life of Riley
- See to the life
- See to save one's life
- See the time of one's life
- See true to life
Word Origin
Old English līf; related to Old High German lib, Old Norse līf life, bodyQuotations
"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
- 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 ...a baby's first minutes of life.
- Spanish:
vida
nf
- French:
vie
nf
- German:
Leben
nnt Leben
- Chinese: 生命 n
- Arabic: حَيَاْةٌ n
- Portuguese: vida nf
- Russian: жизнь nf
- Croatian: život nm
- Czech: život nm
- Danish: liv nnt
- Dutch: leven nnt
- Finnish: elämä n
- Greek: ζωή nf
- Italian: vita nf
- Japanese: 生命 n
- Korean: 생명 n
- Norwegian: liv nnt
- Polish: życie nnt
- Brazilian Portuguese: vida nf
- European Spanish:
vida
nf
- Swedish: liv nnt
- Thai: ชีวิต n
- Turkish: yaşam n
- Vietnamese: cuộc sống n
Usage examples
I thought about getting married: I realised that I actually wanted to, for the first time in my life.
, THE EXECUTION (2002)It was later in 1944 that the accident of fortune�� which reshaped Andrews life oc-curred.
Country Life (2004)Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
Irish Times (2002)I'd like to say last Monday should have been the greatest day of my life - had I not nearly suffered death in a plane crash.
Glasgow Herald (2001)They had been condemned to live a life of wandering, far from their homeland.
, ABORIGINE DREAMING: Introduction to the Wisdom and Thought of the Aboriginal Traditions of Australia (2002)