love
♦♦♦ love /l'ʌv/ (loves loving loved)
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you love someone, you feel romantically or sexually attracted to them, and they are very important to you.
Oh, Amy, I love you...
We love each other. We want to spend our lives together.
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Love is a very strong feeling of affection towards someone who you are romantically or sexually attracted to.
Our love for each other has been increased by what we've been through together.
...a old fashioned love story.
...an album of love songs.
3 [VERB] V n
You say that you love someone when their happiness is very important to you, so that you behave in a kind and caring way towards them.
You'll never love anyone the way you love your baby.
4 [N-UNCOUNT]
Love is the feeling that a person's happiness is very important to you, and the way you show this feeling in your behaviour towards them.
My love for all my children is unconditional...
She's got a great capacity for love.
5 [VERB] V n/-ing, V n/-ing, V to-inf, V it wh
If you love something, you like it very much.
We loved the food so much, especially the fish dishes...
I loved reading.
...one of these people that loves to be in the outdoors...
I love it when I hear you laugh.
6 [VERB] V n
You can say that you love something when you consider that it is important and want to protect or support it.
I love my country as you love yours.
7 [N-UNCOUNT] oft N of n
Love is a strong liking for something, or a belief that it is important.
The French are known for their love of their language.
8 [N-COUNT] usu with poss
Your love is someone or something that you love.
`She is the love of my life,' he said...
Music's one of my great loves.
9 [VERB] V to-inf, V n, V n to-inf
If you would love to have or do something, you very much want to have it or do it.
I would love to play for England again...
I would love a hot bath and clean clothes...
His wife would love him to give up his job.
10 [N-VOC]
Some people use love as an affectionate way of addressing someone. (BRIT INFORMAL)
Well, I'll take your word for it then, love...
Don't cry, my love.
= dear, darling
11 [NUM]
In tennis, love is a score of zero.
He beat Thomas Muster of Austria three sets to love.
12 [CONVENTION]
You can use expressions such as `love', `love from', and `all my love', followed by your name, as an informal way of ending a letter to a friend or relation.
...with love from Grandma and Grandpa.
13 [N-UNCOUNT] poss N
If you send someone your love, you ask another person, who will soon be speaking or writing to them, to tell them that you are thinking about them with affection.
Please give her my love.
14
see also -loved, loving, peace-loving, peace-loving, tug-of-love
15 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR with n
If you fall in love with someone, you start to be in love with them.
I fell in love with him because of his kind nature...
We fell madly in love.
16 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR with n
If you fall in love with something, you start to like it very much.
Working with Ford closely, I fell in love with the cinema.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR with n
If you are in love with someone, you feel romantically or sexually attracted to them, and they are very important to you.
Laura had never before been in love...
I've never really been in love with anyone...
We were madly in love for about two years.
18 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR with n
If you are in love with something, you like it very much.
He had always been in love with the enchanted landscape of the West.
19 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft pl-n PHR, PHR to/with n
When two people make love, they have sex.
Have you ever made love to a girl before?...free love
[N-UNCOUNT]
A belief in free love is the belief that it is acceptable and good to have sexual relationships without marrying, often several relationships at the same time. (OLD-FASHIONED)love af|fair (love affairs)
1 [N-COUNT] oft N with/between n
A love affair is a romantic and usually sexual relationship between two people who love each other but who are not married or living together.
...a stressful love affair with a married man.
= relationship
2 [N-SING] with supp, usu N with n
If you refer to someone's love affair with something, you mean that they like it a lot and are very enthusiastic about it.
...the American love affair with firearms...love bite (love bites)
also lovebite
[N-COUNT]
A love bite is a mark which someone has on their body as a result of being bitten by their partner when they were kissing or making love.love child (love children)
also love-child
[N-COUNT]
If journalists refer to someone as a love child, they mean that the person was born as a result of a love affair between two people who have never been married to each other.
Eric has a secret love child.love let|ter (love letters)
[N-COUNT]
A love letter is a letter that you write to someone in order to tell them that you love them.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.love nest (love nests)
also love-nest
[N-COUNT] usu sing
A love nest is a house or flat where two people who are having a love affair live or meet. (JOURNALISM)love rat (love rats)
[N-COUNT]
Journalists sometimes use love rat to refer to a man who treats his wife or girlfriend in a cruel way, especially by having sexual relationships with other women. (JOURNALISM)
...the womanising of royal love rat James Hewitt.love sto|ry (love stories)
[N-COUNT]
A love story is something such as a novel or film about a love affair.love tri|an|gle (love triangles)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
A love triangle is a relationship in which three people are each in love with at least one other person in the relationship. (JOURNALISM)tough love
[N-UNCOUNT]
Tough love is the practice of being very strict with a relative or friend who has an addiction or other problem in order to help them overcome the problem.
...the activities of black communities in identifying their own law-breaking youths and then administering tough love.
1 [VERB] V n, V n
If you love someone, you feel romantically or sexually attracted to them, and they are very important to you.
Oh, Amy, I love you...
We love each other. We want to spend our lives together.
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Love is a very strong feeling of affection towards someone who you are romantically or sexually attracted to.
Our love for each other has been increased by what we've been through together.
...a old fashioned love story.
...an album of love songs.
3 [VERB] V n
You say that you love someone when their happiness is very important to you, so that you behave in a kind and caring way towards them.
You'll never love anyone the way you love your baby.
4 [N-UNCOUNT]
Love is the feeling that a person's happiness is very important to you, and the way you show this feeling in your behaviour towards them.
My love for all my children is unconditional...
She's got a great capacity for love.
5 [VERB] V n/-ing, V n/-ing, V to-inf, V it wh
If you love something, you like it very much.
We loved the food so much, especially the fish dishes...
I loved reading.
...one of these people that loves to be in the outdoors...
I love it when I hear you laugh.
6 [VERB] V n
You can say that you love something when you consider that it is important and want to protect or support it.
I love my country as you love yours.
7 [N-UNCOUNT] oft N of n
Love is a strong liking for something, or a belief that it is important.
The French are known for their love of their language.
8 [N-COUNT] usu with poss
Your love is someone or something that you love.
`She is the love of my life,' he said...
Music's one of my great loves.
9 [VERB] V to-inf, V n, V n to-inf
If you would love to have or do something, you very much want to have it or do it.
I would love to play for England again...
I would love a hot bath and clean clothes...
His wife would love him to give up his job.
10 [N-VOC]
Some people use love as an affectionate way of addressing someone. (BRIT INFORMAL)
Well, I'll take your word for it then, love...
Don't cry, my love.
= dear, darling
11 [NUM]
In tennis, love is a score of zero.
He beat Thomas Muster of Austria three sets to love.
12 [CONVENTION]
You can use expressions such as `love', `love from', and `all my love', followed by your name, as an informal way of ending a letter to a friend or relation.
...with love from Grandma and Grandpa.
13 [N-UNCOUNT] poss N
If you send someone your love, you ask another person, who will soon be speaking or writing to them, to tell them that you are thinking about them with affection.
Please give her my love.
14
see also -loved, loving, peace-loving, peace-loving, tug-of-love
15 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR with n
If you fall in love with someone, you start to be in love with them.
I fell in love with him because of his kind nature...
We fell madly in love.
16 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR with n
If you fall in love with something, you start to like it very much.
Working with Ford closely, I fell in love with the cinema.
17 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft PHR with n
If you are in love with someone, you feel romantically or sexually attracted to them, and they are very important to you.
Laura had never before been in love...
I've never really been in love with anyone...
We were madly in love for about two years.
18 [PHRASE] V inflects, usu PHR with n
If you are in love with something, you like it very much.
He had always been in love with the enchanted landscape of the West.
19 [PHRASE] V inflects, oft pl-n PHR, PHR to/with n
When two people make love, they have sex.
Have you ever made love to a girl before?...free love
[N-UNCOUNT]
A belief in free love is the belief that it is acceptable and good to have sexual relationships without marrying, often several relationships at the same time. (OLD-FASHIONED)love af|fair (love affairs)
1 [N-COUNT] oft N with/between n
A love affair is a romantic and usually sexual relationship between two people who love each other but who are not married or living together.
...a stressful love affair with a married man.
= relationship
2 [N-SING] with supp, usu N with n
If you refer to someone's love affair with something, you mean that they like it a lot and are very enthusiastic about it.
...the American love affair with firearms...love bite (love bites)
also lovebite
[N-COUNT]
A love bite is a mark which someone has on their body as a result of being bitten by their partner when they were kissing or making love.love child (love children)
also love-child
[N-COUNT]
If journalists refer to someone as a love child, they mean that the person was born as a result of a love affair between two people who have never been married to each other.
Eric has a secret love child.love let|ter (love letters)
[N-COUNT]
A love letter is a letter that you write to someone in order to tell them that you love them.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.love nest (love nests)
also love-nest
[N-COUNT] usu sing
A love nest is a house or flat where two people who are having a love affair live or meet. (JOURNALISM)love rat (love rats)
[N-COUNT]
Journalists sometimes use love rat to refer to a man who treats his wife or girlfriend in a cruel way, especially by having sexual relationships with other women. (JOURNALISM)
...the womanising of royal love rat James Hewitt.love sto|ry (love stories)
[N-COUNT]
A love story is something such as a novel or film about a love affair.love tri|an|gle (love triangles)
[N-COUNT] usu sing
A love triangle is a relationship in which three people are each in love with at least one other person in the relationship. (JOURNALISM)tough love
[N-UNCOUNT]
Tough love is the practice of being very strict with a relative or friend who has an addiction or other problem in order to help them overcome the problem.
...the activities of black communities in identifying their own law-breaking youths and then administering tough love.