life assurance or life insurance noun

Insurance providing a sum of money for a specified beneficiary in the event of the policyholder's death, and sometimes for the policyholder if he or she reaches a specified age

lifeˈbelt noun

1. A buoyant circular belt for keeping a person afloat in water
2. Any aid to survival (figurative)

lifeˈblood noun

1. The blood necessary to life
2. Anything which gives essential strength or life
3. A twitching, eg of the eyelid or lip (archaic)

lifeˈboat noun

1. A boat for saving people in trouble at sea
2. A measure taken in an attempt to save a business, financial operation, etc (figurative; also often as adjective)

lifeˈboatman noun

lifeˈbuoy noun

A float for supporting a person in the water until he or she can be rescued

life class noun

An art class in which the students draw or paint the human body from a live model

life coach noun

A person whose job is to advise clients on how to achieve success and happiness

life cycle noun

1. The round of changes in the life and generations of an organism, from zygote to zygote (biology)
2. The various stages in the life or development of anything, eg a manufactured product (figurative)

lifeˈ-estateˈ noun

An estate held during the life of the possessor

life expectancy noun

The length of time which any living organism can reasonably be expected to remain alive

lifeˈ-forceˈ noun

A directing principle supposed to be inherent in living things, turning their activities to nature's own purposes

lifeˈ-giving adjective

1. Imparting life
2. Invigorating

lifeˈguard noun

1. A person employed to rescue bathers in difficulties
2. A bodyguard

Life Guards plural noun

Two troops of cavalry, first so called in 1685, amalgamated in 1922 and forming, with the Royal Horse Guards, the Household Cavalry

life history noun

1. The history of a (person's, plant's, animal's, etc) life
2. The succession of changes from zygote to maturity and death
3. The life cycle

lifeˈhold adjective

Held for life

life instinct noun

(in psychoanalysis) the instinct for self-preservation and reproduction

life insurance see life assurance above.

lifeˈ-inˈterest noun

An interest lasting during a life

life jacket noun

A buoyant jacket for keeping a person afloat in water, a lifebelt

lifeˈline noun

1. A rope for saving or safeguarding life
2. A line used by a diver for signalling
3. A vital means of communication
4. A line on the palm of the hand, taken as showing how long a person will live (palmistry)

lifeˈlong adjective

Lasting throughout one's life

lifeˈmanship noun (facetious; title of humorous book by Stephen Potter, 1950)

The art of making the other person feel inferior, of placing oneself at an advantage

lifeˈ-morˈtar noun

A mortar for throwing a line to a ship in distress

life peer noun

A peer whose title is not hereditary

life peerage noun

life peeress noun

A woman who receives a peerage which cannot be handed down to heirs

lifeˈ-preservˈer noun

1. An apparatus for saving someone from drowning
2. A club or cosh

life raft noun

A raft kept on board a ship for use in an emergency

lifeˈ-renˈdering adjective (Shakespeare)

Yielding up life

lifeˈ-rent noun (Scots law)

A right to use for life

lifeˈ-renter noun

A person who enjoys a life-rent (also fem lifeˈ-rentrix)

lifeˈ-rockˈet noun

A rocket for carrying a line to a ship in distress

lifeˈ-saver noun

1. A person who saves another from death, esp from drowning
2. A lifeguard
3. Something or someone that comes to one's aid at a critical moment (informal)

lifeˈ-savˈing adjective

Designed to save life, esp from drowning

noun

The act or skill of rescuing people who are in danger of drowning

life school noun

A school where artists work from living models

life sciences plural noun

Those sciences (biology, medicine, etc) concerned with living organisms

life scientist noun

life sentence noun

A prison sentence to last for the rest of the prisoner's natural life (usu now lasting approx 13 years)

lifeˈ-size or lifeˈ-sized adjective

Of the size of the object represented

lifeˈspan noun

The length of time for which a person or animal normally lives, or a machine, etc functions

life story noun

A biography or autobiography, esp as recounted in the media or book form

lifeˈstyle noun

1. Way of living, ie one's material surroundings, attitudes, behaviour, etc
2. The characteristic way of life of a group or individual

life-support machine or life-support system noun

A device or system of devices designed to maintain human life in adverse conditions, eg in space, during serious illness, etc

life table noun

A table of statistics of probability of life

lifeˈ-tenant noun

The holder of a life-estate

lifeˈtime noun

The time during which one is alive

lifeˈ-wearˈy adjective (Shakespeare)

1. Weary of life
2. Wretched

lifeˈ-work noun

The work to which one's life is, has been or is to be devoted

bring to life

1. To give life to, make alive
2. To animate

come to life

1. To become alive
2. To become animated

for life

1. For the whole period of one's existence
2. (as if) to save one's life

for the life of me, him, her, etc

1. (usu with can and a neg) try as I, he, she, etc might
2. Though it were to save my, his, her, etc life

get a life (informal; usu in imperative)

To start to live life to the full and do interesting things

high life

Fashionable society or its (glamorous) manner of living

line of life

A crease in the palm in which palmists see a promise of longevity

not on your life (informal)

On no account, absolutely not

see life

To see how other people live, esp the less well-off or respectable

take someone's life

To kill someone

the life and soul

The person who is the chief source of fun, etc, esp at a party

the life of Riley /rīˈli/

An easy, carefree (and often irresponsible) life

to the life

1. Very closely like the original
2. Exactly drawn