live1
/lɪv
/verb
1 [no object] Remain alive: the doctors said she had only six months to live both cats lived to a ripe age...
- In September 2000, she was diagnosed with bone cancer and given six months to live.
- He has been given a 20 per cent chance of survival and doctors say he might have three to six months to live.
- By the following morning doctors had told Lorraine that she had a rare form of cervical cancer and only six months to live.
1.1 [with adverbial] Be alive at a specified time: he lived four centuries ago...
- My tastes are definitely different from what I would have liked, if I had lived five centuries ago.
- It's not just about some guy who lived centuries ago.
- Great oaks and trees that lived centuries ago held their broken branches, still fashioned to the ground by decaying roots.
Synonyms
exist, be alive, be, have being, have life;
breathe, draw breath, walk the earth;
be extant
informal be in the land of the living
1.2 [with adverbial] Spend one’s life in a particular way or under particular circumstances: people are living in fear in the wake of the shootings [with object and adverbial]: he was living a life of luxury in Australia...
- He lived well and spent freely, renting flats in Chelsea and Brighton, employing servants, owning race horses and running a Rolls-Royce.
- Instead of enjoying the fact that we can live comfortably, we spend our time looking to see who is living just that little bit more comfortably than us.
- I, for one, would not produce a child that would have to live under these circumstances.
Synonyms
pass one's life, spend one's life, lead one's life, have a life, have a lifestyle;
behave, conduct oneself, comport oneself
experience, spend, pass, lead, have, go through, undergo
1.3 (live in (or out)) (Of an employee or student) reside at (or away from) the place where one works or studies: the development is designed to provide extra accommodation for undergraduates to enable all 400 to live in
1.4Supply oneself with the means of subsistence: they live by hunting and fishing...
- We lived from subsistence farming, growing sweet potatoes, corn, some sugarcane, and ginger.
- He lived by gambling professionally for over a decade.
- They live by hunting and gathering.
Synonyms
survive, make a living, earn one's living, eke out a living;
subsist, support oneself, sustain oneself;
keep alive, stay alive, maintain oneself, make ends meet, keep body and soul together
1.5 (live through) Survive (an unpleasant experience or period): both men lived through the Depression...
- A local historian talked to pupils about his experience of living through the Second World War.
- Nobody has ever had the experience of living through this kind of hurricane, followed by this flood.
- Each of these photographers comments on the experience of living through war.
1.6Survive in someone’s mind; be remembered: only the name lived on...
- Songwriter and singer Ollie Cole has an impeccable ear for a good melody and this one lives long in the mind.
- In any Championship is something that lives forever in the minds and hearts of every one involved.
- He will live on in our memories.
1.7Have an exciting or fulfilling life: he couldn’t wait to get out of school and really start living...
- Maybe you should start living instead of just watching everyone else.
- The voice is calling us to leave our foolish fears behind, to take risks, to trust, to begin to really live.
- Get out there and start living, you never know how much longer it is all going to last.
Synonyms
enjoy oneself, enjoy life, have fun, be happy, live life to the full;
flourish, prosper, thrive, make the most of life
1.8 (live for) Regard as the purpose or most important aspect of one’s life: Tony lived for his painting...
- Far from living for technology, the corporate world now lives for finance.
- It's a story about a man who hung out in the sewers for years living for opera.
- He lived for his family. What has he got now?
1.9 archaic (Of a ship) escape destruction; remain afloat.We never expected the boat to live in such a fearful gale and sea, but she weathered it bravely....
- By some miracle of fate the boat lived through the storm.
- They had nothing more than a hope that, if the vessel lived, they might continue to earn their commissions and brokerage.
2 [no object, with adverbial] Make one’s home in a particular place or with a particular person: I’ve lived in the East End all my life they lived with his grandparents...
- He was just a divorced man living alone in a really big house.
- The lucky ones have grandparents living locally who are willing to help out on a regular basis.
- Did you or you parents ever live in a house of their own?
Synonyms
reside, have one's home, have one's residence, be settled;
be housed, lodge, board;
inhabit, occupy, populate;
Scottish stay
informal hang out, hang one's hat, put up
formal dwell, sojourn, be domiciled
archaic bide
2.1 informal (Of an object) be kept in a particular place: I told her where the coffee lived and went back to sleep...
- He took the captain and his men to see where the shields lived.
- For the time being the vacuum cleaner lives at the end of the couch.
- I don't know where the plates live in their kitchen any more.
Phrases
as I live and breathe
be living on borrowed time
live and breathe something
live and let live
live by one's wits
live dangerously
live for the moment
live in hope
live in the past
live in sin
live it up
live off (or on) the fat of the land
live off the land
live out of a suitcase
live one's own life
live rough
live to fight another day
live to regret something
live to tell the tale
live with oneself
long live ——!
where one lives
you haven't lived!
you (or we) live and learn
Phrasal verbs
live something down
live off (or on)
live something out
live together
live up to
live with
Origin
Old English libban, lifian, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch leven and German leben, also to life and leave1.
In the sense ‘to be alive’, live goes back to the same root as life. The other live, with a different pronunciation, is a mid16th-century shortening of alive (Old English). The proverb live and let live is identified as Dutch in the earliest known reference, from 1622. Live and Let Die, the 1954 James Bond book, filmed in 1973, subverted it. The rhyme ‘He who fights and runs away / Lives to fight another day’ gives us the phrase live to fight another day. The idea is found in the works of the Greek comic playwright Menander, who lived from around 342 to 292 bc.
Rhymes
live2
/lʌɪv/adjective
1 [attributive] Not dead or inanimate; living: live animals...
- Is it better to be a live slave than a dead hero or heroine?
- For example, a dead tree is not an eyesore, it's a home - there's more life in a dead tree than a live tree.
- Several diseases cause rings of dead grass with live green grass in the center.
Synonyms
living, alive, having life, breathing;
animate, organic, biological, sentient;
existing, existent, extant
informal in the land of the living, among the living
archaic quick
1.1(Of a vaccine) containing viruses or bacteria that are living but of a mild or attenuated strain.The six victims inoculated with the attenuated live virus vaccine developed symptoms similar to those of yellow fever....
- These children show few adverse reactions to routine vaccinations, including live vaccines.
- A live weakened virus vaccine is effective in preventing some of these diseases.
1.2(Of yogurt) containing the living microorganisms by which it is formed.The labeling is voluntary, so a container of yogurt could have live cultures but not show the seal....
- A plain live yoghurt with some added fresh fruit would be a better option.
2Relating to a musical performance given in concert, not on a recording: there is traditional live music played most nights a live album...
- Although she has a preference for live music and performance Caroline has a very successful recording career on the Scorpus label.
- Though it took many years to establish the technique of sound on film, live music accompanied public performances.
- Do you attach any importance to what the press say about your music and your live performances?
2.1(Of a broadcast) transmitted at the time of occurrence, not from a recording: live coverage of the match...
- Traditional broadcasters, with a live webcast of their output, were joined by new internet based stations.
- It may not be very long before we will be able to watch anything via live webcast, though likely for a price.
- Crowded round a radio listening to the live broadcast from Parliament, we all felt that a change was going to come, something old was dying.
Synonyms
in the flesh, personal, in person, actual;
not pre-recorded, not recorded, unedited;
not delayed, real-time;
with an audience
3(Of a wire or device) connected to a source of electric current.He died as a live electric wire fell down into river....
- Meanwhile, Antony, the thinker, had cleverly skewered a piece of Cheddar onto the end of a bare live electrical wire.
- The base housed the live electrical wires.
Synonyms
electrified, charged, powered, connected, active, switched on
informal hot
3.1Of, containing, or using undetonated explosive: live ammunition...
- Nothing replaces live training with live ammunition with the whole unit in the field.
- The stove was located two rooms away from the ammunition room, which had plenty of live ammo.
- A loaded Smith and Wesson revolver and four live rounds of ammunition were found hidden in a box under a bed.
Synonyms
unexploded, explosive, explodable, active;
loaded, charged, primed;
unstable, volatile
3.2(Of coals) burning or glowing.Nobody wished to retain money, everybody dropped it like a live coal....
- A live coal from the altar has touched his lips, and they are purified.
- The rice wine felt like live coal slipping down my throat.
Synonyms
hot, glowing, red hot, aglow, smouldering;
burning, alight, flaming, aflame, blazing, fiery, ignited, on fire, afire
3.3(Of a match) unused.The joss stick had been stuck in a box of live matches....
- One Mum who was playing with live matches with her toddler daughter!
3.4(Of a wheel or axle in machinery) moving or imparting motion.Well it's American and it's got a live axle so it's bound to be no good, right?...
- Most lay the blame for its lack of handling on the live rear axle.
3.5(Of a ball in a game) in play, especially in contrast to being foul or out of bounds.Burress then picks up the ball and drops it again, and the Falcons proceed to pick up what should be a live ball....
- Now for the coup de grace: a pair of Offaly hands would wrap themselves around the next live ball.
- The ball becomes live when it leaves the referee's or umpire's hands on a jump ball.
4(Of a question or subject) of current or continuing interest and importance: the future organization of Europe has become a live issue...
- Here is a chance at least for the younger generation to make known its views on this live subject.
- There is a question of trust and it is a live issue and we have to deal with it.
- That is a live question because of the proposed abolition of the Compensation Court of New South Wales.
Synonyms
topical, current, of current interest, contemporary;
burning, pressing, important, vital;
relevant, pertinent;
controversial, debatable, unsettled
adverb
As or at an actual event or performance: the match will be televised live...
- Kian described it as the moment the band has all been waiting for, getting up on stage and performing live.
- We just can't wait to be back on-stage performing live and especially at home in Ireland.
- I also remember watching his resignation speech live, another great performance.
Phrases
go live
Origin
Mid 16th century: shortening of alive.