life [ lf ] (plural lives [ lvz ])

noun

1. existence in the physical world: the quality that makes living animals and plants different from dead organisms and inorganic matter. Its functions include the ability to take in food, adapt to the environment, grow, and reproduce.

2. living individual: a living being, especially a person, often used when referring to the number of people killed in an accident or a war ( usually used in the plural )   Two hundred lives were lost in the crash.

3. living things considered together: a group of living things, usually of a particular kind  She was an expert on plant life in the Amazon.

4. whole time somebody is alive: the entire period during which somebody is, has been, or will yet be alive  All my life I’ve wanted to learn to fly.

5. time when something functions: the period during which something continues to function  Cheap batteries usually have short lives.

6. some part of somebody’s life: a particular aspect of somebody’s life  social life

7. human activity: human existence or activity in general  real life

8. life imprisonment: life imprisonment ( informal )

9. way in which somebody lives: the character or conditions of an individual’s existence  Most people in this city lead hard lives.

10. characteristic way of living: a way of living that is characteristic of a particular place or group  country life

11. biography: an account of a somebody’s life, usually in writing, but sometimes in other media such as film, video, or radio  He was the author of “The Life of Galileo.”

12. vitality: animation and vitality, or something that produces animation or vitality  We liked him because he was so full of life.

13. artist’s subject: something real used as a subject by an artist, especially human models, who are often nude  She always insisted on painting from life.

[Old English lif , from a prehistoric Germanic word that is also the ancestor of English live, delay, and liver]