 5 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
life
noun
1: a characteristic state or mode of living; "social life";
"city life"; "real life"
2: the course of existence of an individual; the actions and
events that occur in living; "he hoped for a new life in
Australia"; "he wanted to live his own life without
interference from others"
3: the experience of living; the course of human events and
activities; "he could no longer cope with the complexities
of life" [syn: {living}]
4: the condition of living or the state of being alive; "while
there's life there's hope"; "life depends on many chemical
and physical processes" [syn: {animation}, {living}, {aliveness}]
5: the period during which something is functional (as between
birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he
lived a long and happy life" [syn: {lifetime}, {lifespan}]
6: the period between birth and the present time; "I have known
him all his life"
7: animation and energy in action or expression; "it was a
heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to
it" [syn: {liveliness}, {spirit}, {sprightliness}]
8: an account of the series of events making up a person's life
[syn: {biography}, {life story}, {life history}]
9: the period from the present until death; "he appointed
himself emperor for life"
10: a living person; "his heroism saved a life"
11: living things collectively; "the oceans are teeming with
life"
12: a motive for living; "pottery was his life"
13: the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms
from nonliving ones; "there is no life on the moon"
14: a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives; "he got
life for killing the guard" [syn: {life sentence}]
[also: {lives} (pl)]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
lives
See {life}
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Life \Life\ (l[imac]f), noun; pl. {Lives} (l[imac]vz). [AS.
l[imac]f; akin to D. lijf body, G. leib body, MHG. l[imac]p
life, body, OHG. l[imac]b life, Icel. l[imac]f, life, body,
Sw. lif, Dan. liv, and E. live, v. [root]119. See {Live}, and
cf. {Alive}.]
1. The state of being which begins with generation, birth, or
germination, and ends with death; also, the time during
which this state continues; that state of an animal or
plant in which all or any of its organs are capable of
performing all or any of their functions; -- used of all
animal and vegetable organisms.
2. Of human beings: The union of the soul and body; also, the
duration of their union; sometimes, the deathless quality
or existence of the soul; as, man is a creature having an
immortal life.
She shows a body rather than a life. --Shak.
3. (Philos) The potential principle, or force, by which the
organs of animals and plants are started and continued in
the performance of their several and co["o]perative
functions; the vital force, whether regarded as physical
or spiritual.
4. Figuratively: The potential or animating principle, also,
the period of duration, of anything that is conceived of
as resembling a natural organism in structure or
functions; as, the life of a state, a machine, or a book;
authority is the life of government.
5. A certain way or manner of living with respect to
conditions, circumstances, character, conduct, occupation,
etc.; hence, human affairs; also, lives, considered
collectively, as a distinct class or type; as, low life; a
good or evil life; the life of Indians, or of miners.
That which before us lies in daily life. --Milton.
By experience of life abroad in the world. --Ascham.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime. --Longfellow.
'T is from high life high characters are drawn.
--Pope
6. Animation; spirit; vivacity; vigor; energy.
No notion of life and fire in fancy and in words.
--Felton.
That gives thy gestures grace and life.
--Wordsworth.
7. That which imparts or excites spirit or vigor; that upon
which enjoyment or success depends; as, he was the life of
the company, or of the enterprise.
8. The living or actual form, person, thing, or state; as, a
picture or a description from, the life.
9. A person; a living being, usually a human being; as, many
lives were sacrificed.
10. The system of animal nature; animals in general, or
considered collectively.
Full nature swarms with life. --Thomson.
11. An essential constituent of life, esp: the blood.
The words that I speak unto you . . . they are
life. --John vi. 63.
The warm life came issuing through the wound.
--Pope
12. A history of the acts and events of a life; a biography;
as, Johnson wrote the life of Milton.
13. Enjoyment in the right use of the powers; especially, a
spiritual existence; happiness in the favor of God;
heavenly felicity.
14. Something dear to one as one's existence; a darling; --
used as a term of endearment.
Note: Life forms the first part of many compounds, for the
most part of obvious meaning; as, life-giving,
life-sustaining, etc.
{Life annuity}, an annuity payable during one's life.
{Life arrow}, {Life rocket}, {Life shot}, an arrow, rocket,
or shot, for carrying an attached line to a vessel in
distress in order to save life.
{Life assurance}. See {Life insurance}, below.
{Life buoy}. See {Buoy}.
{Life car}, a water-tight boat or box, traveling on a line
from a wrecked vessel to the shore. In it person are
hauled through the waves and surf.
{Life drop}, a drop of vital blood. --Byron.
{Life estate} (Law), an estate which is held during the term
of some certain person's life, but does not pass by
inheritance.
{Life everlasting} (Bot.), a plant with white or yellow
persistent scales about the heads of the flowers, as
{Antennaria}, and {Gnaphalium}; cudweed.
{Life of an execution} (Law), the period when an execution is
in force, or before it expires.
{Life guard}. (Mil.) See under {Guard}.
{Life insurance}, the act or system of insuring against
death; a contract by which the insurer undertakes, in
consideration of the payment of a premium (usually at
stated periods), to pay a stipulated sum in the event of
the death of the insured or of a third person in whose
life the insured has an interest.
{Life interest}, an estate or interest which lasts during
one's life, or the life of another person, but does not
pass by inheritance.
{Life land} (Law), land held by lease for the term of a life
or lives.
{Life line}.
(a) (Naut.) A line along any part of a vessel for the
security of sailors.
(b) A line attached to a life boat, or to any life saving
apparatus, to be grasped by a person in the water.
{Life rate}, rate of premium for insuring a life.
{Life rent}, the rent of a life estate; rent or property to
which one is entitled during one's life.
{Life school}, a school for artists in which they model,
paint, or draw from living models.
{Lifetable}, a table showing the probability of life at
different ages.
{To lose one's life}, to die.
{To seek the life of}, to seek to kill.
{To the life}, so as closely to resemble the living person or
the subject; as, the portrait was drawn to the life.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lives \Lives\ (l[imac]vz), noun;
pl. of {Life}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Lives \Lives\ (l[imac]vz), adjective & adverb [Orig. a genitive sing. of
life.]
Alive; living; with life. [Obs.] '' Any lives creature.''
--Chaucer.
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