life
♦♦♦ life /l'aɪf/ (lives /l'aɪvz/)
1 [N-UNCOUNT]
Life is the quality which people, animals, and plants have when they are not dead, and which objects and substances do not have.
...a baby's first minutes of life...
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of the right to life.
...the earth's supply of life-giving oxygen.
2 [N-UNCOUNT] with supp
You can use life to refer to things or groups of things which are alive.
Is there life on Mars?...
The book includes some useful facts about animal and plant life.
3 [N-COUNT] usu poss N
If you refer to someone's life, you mean their state of being alive, especially when there is a risk or danger of them dying.
Your life is in danger...
A nurse began to try to save his life...
The intense fighting is reported to have claimed many lives.
4 [N-COUNT] poss N
Someone's life is the period of time during which they are alive.
He spent the last fourteen years of his life in retirement...
For the first time in his life he regretted that he had no faith.
5 [N-COUNT] with supp, usu poss N
You can use life to refer to a period of someone's life when they are in a particular situation or job.
Interior designers spend their working lives keeping up to date with the latest trends...
That was the beginning of my life in the television business.
6 [N-COUNT] supp N
You can use life to refer to particular activities which people regularly do during their lives.
My personal life has had to take second place to my career...
Most diabetics have a normal sex life.
7 [N-UNCOUNT]
You can use life to refer to the events and experiences that happen to people while they are alive.
Life won't be dull!...
It's the people with insecurities who make life difficult.
8 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you know a lot about life, you have gained many varied experiences, for example by travelling a lot and meeting different kinds of people.
I was 19 and too young to know much about life...
I needed some time off from education to experience life.
9 [N-UNCOUNT] usu supp N
You can use life to refer to the things that people do and experience that are characteristic of a particular place, group, or activity.
How did you adjust to college life?
...the culture and life of north Africa...
10 [N-UNCOUNT]
A person, place, book, or film that is full of life gives an impression of excitement, energy, or cheerfulness.
The town itself was full of life and character...
11 [N-UNCOUNT]
If someone is sentenced to life, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life or for a very long time. (INFORMAL)
He could get life in prison, if convicted.
12 [N-COUNT] with poss
The life of something such as a machine, organization, or project is the period of time that it lasts for.
The repairs did not increase the value or the life of the equipment.
13 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you bring something to life or if it comes to life, it becomes interesting or exciting.
The cold, hard cruelty of two young men is vividly brought to life in this true story...
Poems which had seemed dull and boring suddenly came to life.
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
If something or someone comes to life, they become active.
The volcano came to life a week ago.
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone is fighting for their life, you mean that they are in a very serious condition and may die as a result of an accident or illness. (JOURNALISM)
He was in a critical condition, fighting for his life in hospital.
16 [PHRASE] PHR after v, n PHR
For life means for the rest of a person's life.
He was jailed for life in 1966 for the murder of three policemen...
She may have been scarred for life...
17 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If you say that someone does something for dear life or for their life, you mean that they do it using all their strength and effort because they are in a dangerous or urgent situation. (INFORMAL)
I made for the life raft and hung on for dear life.
18 [PHRASE]
If you tell someone to get a life, you are expressing frustration with them because their life seems boring or they seem to care too much about unimportant things. (INFORMAL)
19 [PHRASE] usu with brd-neg, usu PHR after v
You can use in all my life or in my life to emphasize that you have never previously experienced something to such a degree.
I have never been so scared in all my life...
20 [PHRASE] v-link PHR, PHR n
If you say that someone or something is larger than life, you mean that they appear or behave in a way that seems more exaggerated or important than usual.
...not that we should expect all good publishers to be larger than life...
Throughout his career he's always been a larger than life character.
21 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR for n
If someone lays down their life for another person, they die so that the other person can live. (LITERARY)
Man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.
22 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone risks life and limb, they do something very dangerous that may cause them to die or be seriously injured.
Viewers will remember the dashing hero, Dirk, risking life and limb to rescue Daphne from the dragons.
23 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If you refer to someone as the life and soul of the party, you mean that they are very lively and entertaining on social occasions, and are good at mixing with people. In American English, you usually say that they are the life of the party.
24 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR as n
If something starts life or begins life as a particular thing, it is that thing when it first starts to exist.
Herr's book started life as a dramatic screenplay.
25 [PHRASE] V and N inflect
If someone takes another person's life, they kill them. If someone takes their own life, they kill themselves. (FORMAL)
Before execution, he admitted to taking the lives of at least 35 more women...
He helped his first wife take her life when she was dying of cancer.
26 [PHRASE] V inflects
You can use expressions such as to come to life, to spring to life, and to roar into life to indicate that a machine or vehicle suddenly starts working or moving. (LITERARY)
To his great relief the engine came to life...
In the garden of the Savoy Hotel the sprinklers suddenly burst into life.
27
a matter of life and death: see death
a new lease of life: see lease
to have the time of your life: see time
true to life: see true
see also fact of life, kiss of lifechange of life
[N-SING] the N
The change of life is the menopause.dou|ble life (double lives)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
If you say that someone is living a double life, you mean that they lead two separate and very different lives, and they appear to be a different person in each.
She threatened to publicly expose his double life if he left her.fact of life (facts of life)
1 [N-COUNT]
You say that something which is not pleasant is a fact of life when there is nothing you can do to change it so you must accept it.
Stress is a fact of life from time to time for all of us.
2 [N-PLURAL] the N
If you tell a child about the facts of life, you tell him or her about sexual intercourse and how babies are born.
There comes a time when children need to know more than the basic facts of life.high life
[N-SING] also no det
You use the high life to refer to an exciting and luxurious way of living that involves a great deal of entertainment, going to parties, and eating good food.
...the Hollywood high life...kiss of life
[N-SING] the N
If you give someone who has stopped breathing the kiss of life, you put your mouth onto their mouth and breathe into their lungs to make them start breathing again. (BRIT; in AM, use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation)
Julia was given the kiss of life but she could not be revived.life as|sur|ance
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life assurance is the same as life insurance. (BRIT)
...a life assurance policy.life coach (life coaches)
[N-COUNT]
A life coach is someone whose job involves helping people to improve their lives by doing challenging or worthwhile things.
● life coaching [N-UNCOUNT]
...life-coaching workshops.life cy|cle (life cycles)
1 [N-COUNT] usu with poss
The life cycle of an animal or plant is the series of changes and developments that it passes through from the beginning of its life until its death.
The dormant period is another stage in the life cycle of the plant.
2 [N-COUNT]
The life cycle of something such as an idea, product, or organization is the series of developments that take place in it from its beginning until the end of its usefulness.
Each new product would have a relatively long life cycle.life ex|pec|tan|cy (life expectancies)
[N-UNCOUNT] also N in pl
The life expectancy of a person, animal, or plant is the length of time that they are normally likely to live.
The average life expectancy was 40...
They had longer life expectancies than their parents.life force
also life-force
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life force is energy that some people believe exists in all living things and keeps them alive.life form (life forms)
[N-COUNT] with supp
A life form is any living thing such as an animal or plant.life his|to|ry (life histories)
[N-COUNT]
The life history of a person is all the things that happen to them during their life.
Some people give you their life history without much prompting.life im|pris|on|ment
[N-UNCOUNT]
If someone is sentenced to life imprisonment, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life, or for a very long period of time.
= lifelife in|sur|ance
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life insurance is a form of insurance in which a person makes regular payments to an insurance company, in return for a sum of money to be paid to them after a period of time, or to their family if they die.
I have also taken out a life insurance policy on him just in case.
= life assurancelife jack|et (life jackets)
also lifejacket
[N-COUNT]
A life jacket is a sleeveless jacket which helps you to float when you have fallen into deep water.life mem|ber (life members)
[N-COUNT] oft N of n
If you are a life member of a club or organization, you have paid or been chosen to be a member for the rest of your life.life peer (life peers)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a life peer is a person who is given a title such as `Lord' or `Lady' which they can use for the rest of their life but which they cannot pass on when they die.
He was made a life peer in 1991.life pre|serv|er (life preservers)
[N-COUNT]
A life preserver is something such as a life jacket, which helps you to float when you have fallen into deep water. (AM)life raft (life rafts)
also life-raft
[N-COUNT]
A life raft is a small rubber boat carried on an aircraft or large boat which can be filled with air and used in an emergency.life sci|ence (life sciences)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
The life sciences are sciences such as zoology, botany, and anthropology which are concerned with human beings, animals, and plants.life sen|tence (life sentences)
[N-COUNT]
If someone receives a life sentence, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life, or for a very long period of time.
Some were serving life sentences for murder.life's work
[N-SING] usu poss N
Someone's life's work or life work is the main activity that they have been involved in during their life, or their most important achievement.
An exhibition of his life's work is being shown in the garden of his home...
My father's life work was devoted to the conservation of the Longleat estate.love life (love lives)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's love life is the part of their life that consists of their romantic and sexual relationships.
His love life was complicated, and involved intense relationships.low life
also low-life; lowlife
[N-UNCOUNT] oft N n
People sometimes use low life to refer in a disapproving way to people who are involved in criminal, dishonest, or immoral activities, or to these activities.
...the sort of low-life characters who populate this film.real life
[N-UNCOUNT] usu in N
If something happens in real life, it actually happens and is not just in a story or in someone's imagination.
In real life men like Richard Gere don't marry street girls...
[ADJ] ADJ n
Real life is also an adjective.
...a real-life horror story.right to life
[N-SING] oft N n
When people talk about an unborn baby's right to life, they mean that a baby has the right to be born, even if it is severely disabled or if its mother does not want it.
...the Right to Life Campaign.sex life (sex lives)
[N-COUNT] oft with poss
If you refer to someone's sex life, you are referring to their sexual relationships and sexual activity.shelf life (shelf lives)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
The shelf life of a product, especially food, is the length of time that it can be kept in a shop or at home before it becomes too old to sell or use.
Mature flour has a longer shelf life.so|cial life (social lives)
[N-COUNT] with supp, oft with poss
Your social life involves spending time with your friends, for example at parties or in pubs or bars.still life (still lifes)
[N-VAR]
A still life is a painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects such as flowers or fruit. It also refers to this type of painting or drawing.walk of life (walks of life)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
The walk of life that you come from is the position that you have in society and the kind of job you have.
One of the greatest pleasures of this job is meeting people from all walks of life.
= backgroundway of life (ways of life)
1 [N-COUNT] usu sing, oft poss N, adj N
A way of life is the behaviour and habits that are typical of a particular person or group, or that are chosen by them.
Mining activities have totally disrupted the traditional way of life of the Yanomami Indians.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
If you describe a particular activity as a way of life for someone, you mean that it has become a very important and regular thing in their life, rather than something they do or experience occasionally.
She likes it so much it's become a way of life for her.
1 [N-UNCOUNT]
Life is the quality which people, animals, and plants have when they are not dead, and which objects and substances do not have.
...a baby's first minutes of life...
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of the right to life.
...the earth's supply of life-giving oxygen.
2 [N-UNCOUNT] with supp
You can use life to refer to things or groups of things which are alive.
Is there life on Mars?...
The book includes some useful facts about animal and plant life.
3 [N-COUNT] usu poss N
If you refer to someone's life, you mean their state of being alive, especially when there is a risk or danger of them dying.
Your life is in danger...
A nurse began to try to save his life...
The intense fighting is reported to have claimed many lives.
4 [N-COUNT] poss N
Someone's life is the period of time during which they are alive.
He spent the last fourteen years of his life in retirement...
For the first time in his life he regretted that he had no faith.
5 [N-COUNT] with supp, usu poss N
You can use life to refer to a period of someone's life when they are in a particular situation or job.
Interior designers spend their working lives keeping up to date with the latest trends...
That was the beginning of my life in the television business.
6 [N-COUNT] supp N
You can use life to refer to particular activities which people regularly do during their lives.
My personal life has had to take second place to my career...
Most diabetics have a normal sex life.
7 [N-UNCOUNT]
You can use life to refer to the events and experiences that happen to people while they are alive.
Life won't be dull!...
It's the people with insecurities who make life difficult.
8 [N-UNCOUNT]
If you know a lot about life, you have gained many varied experiences, for example by travelling a lot and meeting different kinds of people.
I was 19 and too young to know much about life...
I needed some time off from education to experience life.
9 [N-UNCOUNT] usu supp N
You can use life to refer to the things that people do and experience that are characteristic of a particular place, group, or activity.
How did you adjust to college life?
...the culture and life of north Africa...
10 [N-UNCOUNT]
A person, place, book, or film that is full of life gives an impression of excitement, energy, or cheerfulness.
The town itself was full of life and character...
11 [N-UNCOUNT]
If someone is sentenced to life, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life or for a very long time. (INFORMAL)
He could get life in prison, if convicted.
12 [N-COUNT] with poss
The life of something such as a machine, organization, or project is the period of time that it lasts for.
The repairs did not increase the value or the life of the equipment.
13 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you bring something to life or if it comes to life, it becomes interesting or exciting.
The cold, hard cruelty of two young men is vividly brought to life in this true story...
Poems which had seemed dull and boring suddenly came to life.
14 [PHRASE] V inflects
If something or someone comes to life, they become active.
The volcano came to life a week ago.
15 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you say that someone is fighting for their life, you mean that they are in a very serious condition and may die as a result of an accident or illness. (JOURNALISM)
He was in a critical condition, fighting for his life in hospital.
16 [PHRASE] PHR after v, n PHR
For life means for the rest of a person's life.
He was jailed for life in 1966 for the murder of three policemen...
She may have been scarred for life...
17 [PHRASE] PHR after v
If you say that someone does something for dear life or for their life, you mean that they do it using all their strength and effort because they are in a dangerous or urgent situation. (INFORMAL)
I made for the life raft and hung on for dear life.
18 [PHRASE]
If you tell someone to get a life, you are expressing frustration with them because their life seems boring or they seem to care too much about unimportant things. (INFORMAL)
19 [PHRASE] usu with brd-neg, usu PHR after v
You can use in all my life or in my life to emphasize that you have never previously experienced something to such a degree.
I have never been so scared in all my life...
20 [PHRASE] v-link PHR, PHR n
If you say that someone or something is larger than life, you mean that they appear or behave in a way that seems more exaggerated or important than usual.
...not that we should expect all good publishers to be larger than life...
Throughout his career he's always been a larger than life character.
21 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR for n
If someone lays down their life for another person, they die so that the other person can live. (LITERARY)
Man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.
22 [PHRASE] V inflects
If someone risks life and limb, they do something very dangerous that may cause them to die or be seriously injured.
Viewers will remember the dashing hero, Dirk, risking life and limb to rescue Daphne from the dragons.
23 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If you refer to someone as the life and soul of the party, you mean that they are very lively and entertaining on social occasions, and are good at mixing with people. In American English, you usually say that they are the life of the party.
24 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR as n
If something starts life or begins life as a particular thing, it is that thing when it first starts to exist.
Herr's book started life as a dramatic screenplay.
25 [PHRASE] V and N inflect
If someone takes another person's life, they kill them. If someone takes their own life, they kill themselves. (FORMAL)
Before execution, he admitted to taking the lives of at least 35 more women...
He helped his first wife take her life when she was dying of cancer.
26 [PHRASE] V inflects
You can use expressions such as to come to life, to spring to life, and to roar into life to indicate that a machine or vehicle suddenly starts working or moving. (LITERARY)
To his great relief the engine came to life...
In the garden of the Savoy Hotel the sprinklers suddenly burst into life.
27
a matter of life and death: see death
a new lease of life: see lease
to have the time of your life: see time
true to life: see true
see also fact of life, kiss of lifechange of life
[N-SING] the N
The change of life is the menopause.dou|ble life (double lives)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
If you say that someone is living a double life, you mean that they lead two separate and very different lives, and they appear to be a different person in each.
She threatened to publicly expose his double life if he left her.fact of life (facts of life)
1 [N-COUNT]
You say that something which is not pleasant is a fact of life when there is nothing you can do to change it so you must accept it.
Stress is a fact of life from time to time for all of us.
2 [N-PLURAL] the N
If you tell a child about the facts of life, you tell him or her about sexual intercourse and how babies are born.
There comes a time when children need to know more than the basic facts of life.high life
[N-SING] also no det
You use the high life to refer to an exciting and luxurious way of living that involves a great deal of entertainment, going to parties, and eating good food.
...the Hollywood high life...kiss of life
[N-SING] the N
If you give someone who has stopped breathing the kiss of life, you put your mouth onto their mouth and breathe into their lungs to make them start breathing again. (BRIT; in AM, use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation)
Julia was given the kiss of life but she could not be revived.life as|sur|ance
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life assurance is the same as life insurance. (BRIT)
...a life assurance policy.life coach (life coaches)
[N-COUNT]
A life coach is someone whose job involves helping people to improve their lives by doing challenging or worthwhile things.
● life coaching [N-UNCOUNT]
...life-coaching workshops.life cy|cle (life cycles)
1 [N-COUNT] usu with poss
The life cycle of an animal or plant is the series of changes and developments that it passes through from the beginning of its life until its death.
The dormant period is another stage in the life cycle of the plant.
2 [N-COUNT]
The life cycle of something such as an idea, product, or organization is the series of developments that take place in it from its beginning until the end of its usefulness.
Each new product would have a relatively long life cycle.life ex|pec|tan|cy (life expectancies)
[N-UNCOUNT] also N in pl
The life expectancy of a person, animal, or plant is the length of time that they are normally likely to live.
The average life expectancy was 40...
They had longer life expectancies than their parents.life force
also life-force
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life force is energy that some people believe exists in all living things and keeps them alive.life form (life forms)
[N-COUNT] with supp
A life form is any living thing such as an animal or plant.life his|to|ry (life histories)
[N-COUNT]
The life history of a person is all the things that happen to them during their life.
Some people give you their life history without much prompting.life im|pris|on|ment
[N-UNCOUNT]
If someone is sentenced to life imprisonment, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life, or for a very long period of time.
= lifelife in|sur|ance
[N-UNCOUNT]
Life insurance is a form of insurance in which a person makes regular payments to an insurance company, in return for a sum of money to be paid to them after a period of time, or to their family if they die.
I have also taken out a life insurance policy on him just in case.
= life assurancelife jack|et (life jackets)
also lifejacket
[N-COUNT]
A life jacket is a sleeveless jacket which helps you to float when you have fallen into deep water.life mem|ber (life members)
[N-COUNT] oft N of n
If you are a life member of a club or organization, you have paid or been chosen to be a member for the rest of your life.life peer (life peers)
[N-COUNT]
In Britain, a life peer is a person who is given a title such as `Lord' or `Lady' which they can use for the rest of their life but which they cannot pass on when they die.
He was made a life peer in 1991.life pre|serv|er (life preservers)
[N-COUNT]
A life preserver is something such as a life jacket, which helps you to float when you have fallen into deep water. (AM)life raft (life rafts)
also life-raft
[N-COUNT]
A life raft is a small rubber boat carried on an aircraft or large boat which can be filled with air and used in an emergency.life sci|ence (life sciences)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
The life sciences are sciences such as zoology, botany, and anthropology which are concerned with human beings, animals, and plants.life sen|tence (life sentences)
[N-COUNT]
If someone receives a life sentence, they are sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life, or for a very long period of time.
Some were serving life sentences for murder.life's work
[N-SING] usu poss N
Someone's life's work or life work is the main activity that they have been involved in during their life, or their most important achievement.
An exhibition of his life's work is being shown in the garden of his home...
My father's life work was devoted to the conservation of the Longleat estate.love life (love lives)
[N-COUNT]
Someone's love life is the part of their life that consists of their romantic and sexual relationships.
His love life was complicated, and involved intense relationships.low life
also low-life; lowlife
[N-UNCOUNT] oft N n
People sometimes use low life to refer in a disapproving way to people who are involved in criminal, dishonest, or immoral activities, or to these activities.
...the sort of low-life characters who populate this film.real life
[N-UNCOUNT] usu in N
If something happens in real life, it actually happens and is not just in a story or in someone's imagination.
In real life men like Richard Gere don't marry street girls...
[ADJ] ADJ n
Real life is also an adjective.
...a real-life horror story.right to life
[N-SING] oft N n
When people talk about an unborn baby's right to life, they mean that a baby has the right to be born, even if it is severely disabled or if its mother does not want it.
...the Right to Life Campaign.sex life (sex lives)
[N-COUNT] oft with poss
If you refer to someone's sex life, you are referring to their sexual relationships and sexual activity.shelf life (shelf lives)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
The shelf life of a product, especially food, is the length of time that it can be kept in a shop or at home before it becomes too old to sell or use.
Mature flour has a longer shelf life.so|cial life (social lives)
[N-COUNT] with supp, oft with poss
Your social life involves spending time with your friends, for example at parties or in pubs or bars.still life (still lifes)
[N-VAR]
A still life is a painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects such as flowers or fruit. It also refers to this type of painting or drawing.walk of life (walks of life)
[N-COUNT] usu pl
The walk of life that you come from is the position that you have in society and the kind of job you have.
One of the greatest pleasures of this job is meeting people from all walks of life.
= backgroundway of life (ways of life)
1 [N-COUNT] usu sing, oft poss N, adj N
A way of life is the behaviour and habits that are typical of a particular person or group, or that are chosen by them.
Mining activities have totally disrupted the traditional way of life of the Yanomami Indians.
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing
If you describe a particular activity as a way of life for someone, you mean that it has become a very important and regular thing in their life, rather than something they do or experience occasionally.
She likes it so much it's become a way of life for her.