At the same time, certain specialist insurers can offer a lifeline to those unable to get cover from mainstream providers.

Analysts say a failure to offer a lifeline during the lockdown puts the next generation of disruptive ideas at risk.

That could offer a lifeline for many on the continent, where 70 per cent of the population, or 700 million people, are considered to rely on farming for their livelihoods.

For buyers hoping to step on to the housing ladder, affordable housing schemes can seem to offer the lifeline that will finally allow them to achieve home ownership.

With their invitation to 'close your eyes and take a deep breath', relaxation podcasts offer a lifeline in a busy age.

A very friendly face for a device that just might provide a lifeline in the event of a natural disaster.

The loans provide a lifeline for first-time buyers who do not have a big enough deposit or income to get on the housing ladder themselves.

Some have managed to deliver only a tenth of the funds meant to provide a lifeline to businesses hit by the fallout from coronavirus.

Guarantor loans provide a lifeline for first-time buyers whose deposits or salaries are not sufficient to meet lenders' demands.

They may provide a lifeline to politically important farming communities, and have the potential to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.

The proposals could throw a lifeline to many smaller schools, particularly in rural areas, that might otherwise be threatened with closure.

Recession must not throw a lifeline to quangos that should be extinct.

If we head out to eat, drink and shop, we can throw a lifeline to businesses on the edge.

Can't someone throw a lifeline to us second-class astigmatics?

It could be that the pressure of open access will throw a lifeline to the kind of highly specialized book-length study that print publishers will not now touch.

In total, foreign students bring in 3 billion a year to universities, a vital lifeline as they face funding cuts of at least a quarter.

For millions of the world's poorest people, they offer a vital lifeline to medical treatment.

You will be providing staff with a vital lifeline, which offers impartial advice on counselling and legal help plus grants and educational bursaries.

As an island nation, trade was the most vital lifeline.

For every job created, plenty more are generated down the supply chain, bolstering economies and providing vital lifelines for smaller businesses.