Life Definition

līf

lives

noun

lives

That property or quality of plants and animals that distinguishes them from inorganic matter or dead organisms; specif., the cellular biochemical activity or processes of an organism, as the ingestion of nutrients, the storage and use of energy, the excretion of wastes, growth, reproduction, etc.

Webster's New World

This activity, or the state of possessing this property.

Brought back to life.

Webster's New World

A living being, esp. a human being.

The lives lost in wars.

Webster's New World

Living things collectively, often of a specified kind.

Plant life.

Webster's New World

Lives considered together as belonging to a certain class or type.

High life.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
lifeblood
Ã©lan vital (French)
élan vital (French);
vital principle
vital force
animator
life-giver
master-of-ceremonies
life-of-the-party
invigorator
entertainer
spirit
one's born days
record
life-span

Antonyms:

Antonyms:
inanimate object
inanimacy
death
nonexistence
discontinuance

adjective

Of or relating to the property of life.

Life processes.

Webster's New World

For a lifetime.

Given a life sentence.

Webster's New World

Using live models.

A life class in painting.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

pronoun

(Christian Science) God.

Wiktionary

idiom

as big as life

Life-size.
Actually present.

American Heritage

bring to life

To cause to regain consciousness.
To put spirit into; animate.

American Heritage

come to life

To become animated; grow excited.

American Heritage

for dear life

Desperately or urgently:
I ran for dear life when I saw the tiger.

American Heritage

for life

Till the end of one's life.

American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Life

Noun

Singular:

life

Plural:

lives

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Life

as big as life
bring to life
come to life
for dear life
for life
for the life of (one)
not on your life
take (one's) life
take (one's) life in (one's) hands
take (someone's) life
the good life
the life of Riley
the life of the party
to save (one's) life
true to life
a matter of life and death
as large as life
bring to life
come to life
for dear life
for life
for the life of me
from life
not on your life
see life
take a (or someone's) life
take one's own life
the life
the life of Riley
to the life
true to life

Origin of Life

From Middle English lif, lyf, from Old English lÄ«f (“life, existence; life-time"), from Proto-Germanic *lÄ«bÄ… (“life, body"), from Proto-Germanic *lÄ«banÄ… (“to remain, stay, be left"), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp-, *lip- (“to stick, glue"). Cognate with Scots life, leif (“life"), North Frisian liff (“life, limb, person, livelihood"), West Frisian liif (“belly, abdomen"), Dutch lijf (“body"), Low German lif (“body; life, life-force; waist"), German Leib (“body"), Swedish liv (“life; waist"), Icelandic líf (“life"). Related to belive.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English līf leip- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition