请输入您要查询的英文单词：

　

单词 live
释义

liveadj.1n.adv.

Brit. /lʌɪv/, U.S. /laɪv/
Forms: 1500s lyue, 1500s–1600s liue, 1600s– live.
Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: alive adj.
Etymology: Aphetic < alive adj. Compare also the prepositional phrases cited at life n. Phrases 1, and also lives at life n. 14. Compare earlier quick adj.In sense A. 2a after the corresponding transferred use of classical Latin vīvus (in e.g. carbonēs vīvī glowing coals); compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French vif , in same sense (early 12th cent. in Old French). In sense A. 3a after either quick adj. 7a or the corresponding transferred use of Middle French vif (13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman, in sulfre vif live sulphur), itself after classical Latin vīvus in same sense (in e.g. sulphur vīvum (Pliny, Ovid)). In sense A. 3b after Spanish vivo (1646 or earlier in this sense, in the passage translated in quot. 1703); compare French vif (late 14th cent. in Middle French in this sense), both after the corresponding transferred use of classical Latin vīvus (in e.g. saxum vīvum live rock); compare also earlier quick adj. 7b. In sense A. 9 after the corresponding specific use of dead adj. (see sense 14b at that entry); no corresponding or similar German term occurs in the source translated in quot. 1930 at sense A. 9.
A. adj.1
1.
a. That possesses life; alive, living, as opposed to ‘dead’.Esp. in early use particularly applied to animals. Cf. livestock n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [adjective] > relating to
living1484
live1531
lively1532
creaturely1637
creatural1642
the world > life > source or principle of life > [adjective] > opposed to dead
in the land of the livingc825
livingeOE
lifeeOE
quickeOE
aliveOE
livishc1175
alivesc1300
in lifea1325
with lifea1325
of life1392
breathinga1398
undeada1400
upon lifea1413
live1531
lifesome1582
undeceased1589
vivec1590
breathful1593
vivificent1598
on the hoof1818
1531 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. xxi. sig. Eiiijv Yf one mans oxe hurte anothers that he dye: then they shall sell the lyue oxe and deuyde the money, and the deed oxe also they shall deuyde.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 256v A liue doggue, a cocke, an adder and an ape.
1591 G. Fletcher Of Russe Common Wealth xii. f. 45 Againe he sent to the citie of Mosko to prouide for him a Colpack, or measure full of liue fleas for a medicine.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 172 The iewce of it, on sleeping eyeliddes laide, Will make or man or woman madly dote, Vpon the next liue creature that it sees. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cclxxxvi. 250 I had rather be a Live-Begger then a Dead Countess.
1715 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Relig. (ed. 2) i. vi. 306 This nervous Fluid has never been discovered in live Animals.
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ix. 117 Take a live Lobster, boil it in Salt and Water.
1841 S. Warren Ten Thousand a-Year II. iv. 99 The only live things visible.
1856 J. W. Carlyle Lett. II. 288 I brought two live plants in flower pots.
1897 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. II. 686 The importation of live cattle from countries in which foot-and-mouth disease exists, has been prohibited.
1930 W. M. Mann Wild Animals in & out of Zoo ii. 12 We would buy all the live animals and birds that they could collect.
2008 Observer 27 Apr. 34/5 So-called ‘in-vitro meat’ would be grown from stem cells of chickens and thus produce real flesh without the need to farm live birds.
b. Of hair, feathers, etc.: taken from a living creature, and used esp. for decorative purposes.
ΚΠ
1681 London Gaz. No. 1656/4 One who pretends to buy Live Hair to make Periwigs.
1752 G. A. Stevens Distress upon Distress ii. i. 58 (note) His Interpretation is like the Foreigner's, who mistook the Words, under a Sign, Money for live Hair, to signify, Money for living here.
1853 M. F. Ward Eng. Items v. 102 They had not only bountifully put a handful or two of dirty live feathers into it, but the necks, with the heads to them, of two chickens and a duck.
1863 L. B. Urbino et al. Art Recreations 294 To make hair flowers we need live hair, that is, hair from the head of a living person.
1946 Southwestern Jrnl. Anthropol. 2 225 There he got live feathers, moved the feathers around.
2007 H. Sheumaker Love Entwined vii. 154 ‘No hair cut after death is of any use to the wig-maker or coiffeur.’ In other words, it must be live hair.
2.
a. Of something combustible: flaming, glowing, burning. Frequently in live coal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [adjective] > incandescent > of combustibles
live1572
living1657
lively1844
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > fire or flame > [adjective] > live or burning (of coals)
quickeOE
live1572
lively1581
living1697
1572 R. Harrison tr. L. Lavater Of Ghostes i. x. 48 It may be that other being wrapped in sheets, hauing vnderneth them liue coales [L. prunam viuam] in an earthen pot, appeared vnto priests, who by and by were persuaded they sawe soules which required their helpe to be deliuered.
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. vi. 6 Then flew one of the Seraphims vnto mee, hauing a liue-cole in his hand. View more context for this quotation
a1626 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 288 Where is any liue sparke or seede of Grace?
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 145 When the Fire-wood was burnt pretty much into Embers, or live Coals, I drew them forward upon this Hearth.
1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. II. 366 The Scorpion, when hemmed in with live coals..stings himself in the head.
1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene I. iii. 36 ‘Well, I suppose it's the best thing I can do,’ replied the old woman, who went to the grate, and leaning over, poured the snuff out on the live coals.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid v, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 226 Under the spits live embers place.
?a1958 F. B. Farris From Rattlesnakes to Road Agents (1985) 18 They would build up a good fire and wait till it had burned down to coals, then drag some of the live coals out onto the hearth and put the dutch skillet on them.
1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xxi. 187 Maybe a few live embers could be coaxed from the ashes after all.
b. figurative and in extended use. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) III. 278 We come to set up votes that are live quarrels, like York and Lancaster.
1728 J. Thomson Spring 47 Hence from the Virgin's Cheek, a fresher Bloom Shoots, less and less, the live Carnation round.
1794 J. Beresford tr. Virgil Æneid xii. 455 From his burning brow Leap the live sparkles; his fierce eyes flash fire.
1841 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 16 Dec. (1954) I. 122 His soul is a shrine of the brightest and purest philanthropy, kindled by the live coal of gratitude and devotion to the Author of all things.
1856 Putnam's Monthly Mag. May 475 Holding up, in the covered tumbler, the glorious, lustrous, flashing, live opal.
1873 T. W. Higginson Oldport Days 199 There is to-day such a live sparkle on the water, such a luminous freshness on the grass.
1902 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 646/1 ‘Dead’ and ‘live’ were terms used in speaking of dull opal that could be made to flash as if alive by the application of water.
1921 H. A. Curtiss & F. H. Curtiss Message of Aquaria xxiii. 292 Let the world see live, glowing hearts, willing sacrifices and unselfish lives.
3.
a. Of an element (element n. 1): naturally occurring, esp. in an uncombined state; native. Cf. earlier quick adj. 7a. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > [adjective] > native
live1600
lively1609
living1657
native1680
innate1887
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique vii. xxii. 840 To driue out wormes you must soke perrosin made into powder, aloes powdered, vnquencht lime, and liue brimstone made likewise into powder [Fr. chaulx viue en poudre, souphre vif en poudre].
1671 J. Webster Metallographia xxii. 277 Like unto a metallick flint, in which little veins of live Sulphur appear.
1683 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Two Disc. Soul of Brutes i. xii. 64 Mercury Sublimate highly Corrosive, if another quantity of live Mercury be added and sublimed, it takes away all acritude or biting sharpness.
1728 E. Smith Compl. Housewife (ed. 2) 253 To cure a Pimpled Face. Take an ounce of live Brimstone, as much Roche Allum, as much common salt.
1776 J. Seiferth tr. C. E. Gellert Metallurgic Chym. 270 Pour upon live quicksilver, in an open sugar-glass, as much of the best oil of vitriol as the metal weighs.
1847 N. H. Nicolas Hist. Royal Navy II. iii. 186 Eighty-four pounds of powder for guns, made from one hundred and thirty-five pounds of saltpetre, and forty-nine pounds of pure live sulphur.
1856 Lancet 16 Aug. 206/1 Mr. Abernethy used the live quicksilver, or calomel.
1895–6 Trans. Inst. Mining & Metall. 4 104 The mass is well worked with the hands and as much live quicksilver as possible obtained, by pressing through a cloth.
1983 J. O. Nriagu Lead & Lead Poisoning in Antiq. v. 275 He [sc. Pliny] suggested mixing three parts of silver, three parts of live sulfur, and one part of the very fine Cyprus copper called ‘chaplet copper’.
b. Of rock: forming part of a natural formation; remaining in situ. Cf. earlier quick adj. 7b, and living adj. 4(b).
ΚΠ
1703 tr. A. de Ovalle Hist. Relation Chile i. 28/1 A Tree of that Name which grows at the foot of a great square Table of live Rock [Sp. vn gran tablon de peña viua] where People use to go and eat their Collations.
1728 Mem. Eng. Officer 100 The Glacis was all escarp'd upon the live Rock.
1781 T. Pennant Tour in Wales (1783) II. 307 A well cut in the live rock.
1807 J. E. Smith Sketch Tour Continent (ed. 2) III. 173 The vast cavity..with all these dark wells and passages, has been hewn out of the live stone, which is of no inconsiderable hardness.
1875 R. Browning Aristophanes' Apol. 92 The live rock latent under wave and foam.
1961 J. B. Pritchard Water Syst. Gibeon 12 Steps cut from the live rock.
2003 Anc. West & East 2 26 The ancient inhabitants buried their dead in chamber tombs cut into the live rock.
c. Of air: pure, clear; fresh. Chiefly poetic. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > ventilation and air-conditioning > [adjective] > clean (air)
live1830
clean air1927
1830 D. Moore Scenes from Flood 34 Through the live air their joyful notes, And many a thrilling echo floats.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. i, in Maud & Other Poems 44 His essences turn'd the live air sick.
1995 A. Brackenbury 1829 61 On the broad pavement, where the live air's sour.
4.
a. Originally, of an idea, image, etc.: full of active power; vivid. In later use: characterized by the presence of life, lively; busy, active, bustling. Cf. alive adj. 3, 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > lively, vivacious, or animated > specifically of things > of impersonal agencies, conditions, etc.
live1615
1615 T. Jackson Iustifying Faith viii. 94 It is impossible that any part of him [sc. Christ], or (which is all one) of his liue image, should be fashioned in vs, by any other meanes, then by knowledge or apprehension of his incarnation, life, death and passion.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems iii. ii. xxiv Flush light she sendeth forth, and live Idees.
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. II. v. 186 When Cortes..was informed that these pictures were to be sent to Montezuma, in order to convey to him a more live idea of the strange and wonderful objects.., he resolved to render the representation still more animated and interesting.
1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 202 All the live murmur of a summer's day.
1858 C. Kingsley Parable from Liebig (1878) viii. 251 The world is too live yet for thee.
1878 E. Dowden G. Eliot in Stud. Lit. ii. 296 Style..so live with breeding imagery.
1936 J. H. Simpson Let. 18 June in P. Neary White Tie & Decorations 320 The harbour on my left, as I write, is live with motor fishing boats returning with their morning's catch.
2007 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 19 Nov. 9 Jerusalem is not the Hamptons in New York... We want a live and bustling city.
b. slang (originally U.S.). Of a person: full of energy and alertness; active, up to date. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [adjective] > brisk or active
sprindeOE
whata1000
braga1350
prestc1390
yarea1400
stirringc1400
startingc1440
actious1441
actuala1470
activea1522
queemc1540
skeetc1540
lively1567
alive-like1582
pragmatical1590
spruce1590
agilious1599
brisk1599
sprightly?c1599
brisky1600
alives-like1601
alacrious1602
smart1602
eyebright1603
whisking1611
deedy1615
vibrant1616
sprunt1631
perking1653
alert1654
exilient1654
alacrative1657
eveillé1676
budge1691
jaunty1705
spry1746
sprack1747
alive1748
high-geared1795
rash1805
spicy1828
live1830
deedful1834
yary1855
sprucy1858
alacritous1859
sprackish1882
brash1884
up-and-coming1889
up and doing1901
loose1907
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed1936
buzzy1978
1830 J. Neal Authorship i. 4 I saw a live man at work renewing a part of Henry the Seventh's chapel.
1857 Knickerbocker 50 456 A neighbouring bath-house, kept by a live Yankee of the name of Martin.
1876 W. Besant & J. Rice Golden Butterfly II. v. 78 I shall only get live men to write for me.
1925 Daily Tel. 13 May 20/7 (advt.) Traveller Wanted.—We offer the latest new line. Big seller. Live men can earn £10 week.
1960 G. Garagiola Baseball is funny Game 4 We would go to..watch our ‘live guys’, the Hawks, beat the North St. Louis champs.
c. Of a text, question, subject of consideration, etc.: of present or continued importance; current.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [adjective] > of present interest or importance
waif1753
live1850
topical1873
1850 Christian Examiner & Relig. Misc. Sept. 239 Upon those of us, especially, who were then young, this book made a deep impression... In fact, like every live book, it made an epoch.
1871 Scribner's Monthly 1 71 Quite as likely..the ‘advanced’ preacher selects a ‘live’ subject, a theme for the times.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. III. cviii. 565 An enterprising man..created a new type of ‘live’ newspaper.
1900 Speaker 8 Sept. 618/1 The strenuous effort of the Republicans to resurrect the money question and make it a live issue is becoming ludicrous.
1932 E. V. Lucas Reading, Writing & Remembering 45 A varied, learned and very live and amusing book would be the result.
2001 Mod. Railways Feb. 36/3 This is a live question for Railtrack in Britain.
5.
a. Containing unexpended energy. Of a shell, match, etc.: unkindled, unexploded. Of a cartridge: containing a bullet, opposed to blank.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [adjective] > types of cartridge > condition of cartridge
live1747
reloaded1808
fired1870
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > a combustible substance > [adjective] > of sulphur, etc.
quickeOE
live1894
1747 J. Muller Attack & Def. Fortify'd Places i. 61 An Opening is made down into them, and live Shells thrown in.
1799 Naval Chron. 1 440 A quantity of six-inch live shells fired.
1841 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. IX. lxxii. 782 Live shells were placed along the top of the rampart.
1894 Times 29 May 6/6 I have repeatedly found matches about the ground... They were ‘live’ matches.
1897 Daily News 10 Mar. 7/4 The accused said, ‘You are a —— fine pal to give me a live cartridge.’
1998 Agric. Hist. 72 110 In 1991 three dozen farmers were killed by live shells from the First World War.
b. Designating a machine part or apparatus, esp. an axle, which moves or imparts motion to others. Opposed to dead adj. 23.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [adjective] > relating to specific parts
live1806
involute figure1884
fly-off1959
single-start1964
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > operation of machinery > [adjective] > involving motion
live1806
1806 O. G. Gregory Treat. Mech. II. 474 One of these pulleys, called the dead pulley, is fixed to the axis and turns with it, and the other which slips round it, is called the live pulley.
c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 74 There is a live sheave for the working top pendant, and a dumb one for the hawser.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1337/1 Live-axle, one communicating power; in contradistinction to a dead or blind axle.
1903 Work 25 199/3 The two systems of driving are the live axle and the double sprocket chain.
1943 Sci. & Mech. Spring 98/2 The live center fits in the spindle of the headstock and is used to support work at the end.
1995 Farmers Weekly 21 July 82/1 The Toyota has live axles, leaf springs and manual freewheeling hubs.
c. Of a volcano: (potentially) active; not extinct. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > volcano > [adjective] > type of volcano
active1771
live1827
polygenetic1959
1827 A. Jamieson Dict. Mech. Sci. I. 65/1 Celebez is 600 miles long... In its centre there are several live volcanoes.
1886 Times 16 Nov. 12/2 Immediately above the village, another interesting live volcano, Shirane-san, rises some 3,000ft.
1938 Amer. Home June 54/2 I suspect he plans for us all to climb live craters this summer.
1963 I. R. Orton in G. J. Firmage & O. Williams Garland for Dylan Thomas 96 You were the live volcano, The unavoidable landmark.
1998 J. Powell Nat. Rec. Breakers 96 The biggest live volcano in the world is on the island of Hawaii.
d. Of a rail, wire, etc.: connected to a source of electrical potential, carrying a voltage; that will communicate a current to a conductor in contact. In a single-phase supply: designating the conductor on which the supply voltage is developed (with respect to the neutral). Earliest in live wire n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electric charge, electricity > [adjective]
excited1660
electrified1745
electrical1746
electricized1747
electrized1747
electrala1763
charged?1790
live1881
alive1884
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > wire as conductor > [adjective]
live1881
1881 Globe (Atchison, Kansas) 7 Feb. The American Union hadn't a single live wire running into its office.
1890 Daily News 4 Jan. 6/6 Touching a live electric wire somewhere in the city.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 856 A person for example may be seriously injured..through an iron tool in his hand by which accidental contact is made with live metal.
1938 J. W. Sims Electr. Installations 148 When the fuse unit is enclosed in an iron case there should be an inch clearance all round any live part.
1993 Collins Compl. DIY Man. (new ed.) vii. 308/2 Cable for the fixed wiring of electrical systems normally has three conductors: the insulated live and neutral ones and the earth conductor lying between them.
2002 R. B. Hickey Electr. Constr. Databk. ii. 12 Insulated wire or insulated busbars operating at not over 300 volts shall not be considered live parts.
e. Of a device, system, facility, etc.: in active operation; functional, operational. Cf. to go live at Phrases 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical appliances or devices > [adjective]
alive1928
live1931
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > audibility > sound magnification or reproduction > [adjective] > microphone > receptive to sound
live1931
1931 Pop. Mech. Sept. 25 (advt.) In my shops we use tools instead of books. Students work on live equipment.
1984 Washington Post 3 July d2/1 In a studio like this, a live microphone propped before them, they must..give precisely timed noises to the movements on film.
2005 Computerworld 18 Apr. 21/5 Rather than receiving training on the live system, a majority of the employees were given specially prepared computer training disks.
2010 P. Tyler World of Trouble vii. 252 Dropping bombs on a live reactor would spew radioactive fallout across Iraq and neighboring states.
f. Of a link in a website, email, etc.: configured correctly, so as to be usable in accessing the specified destination; functioning.
ΚΠ
1990 FrameMaker & Interleaf Compar. in comp.text (Usenet newsgroup) 5 Dec. Using FrameMaker's live link (hyperlink) capabilities, external values from another program, such as an SQL database, can be plugged into an equation before solving.
2006 Managem. Today Jan. 82 (advt.) Goldjobs offers you the choice to promote your executive recruitment needs with display advertising (with live links to your corporate website).
6. Designating a device for trapping or holding living animals, or (esp. in early use) for examining them under a microscope. Cf. livebox n., livetrap n.
ΚΠ
1823 E. James Acct. Exped. Rocky Mts. I. ix. 153 Mr. Peale constructed and tried various kinds of traps to take them [sc. prairie wolves], one of which was of the description called ‘a live trap’, a shallow box reversed, and supported at one end, by the well known kind of trap sticks.
1945 Jrnl. Wildlife Managem. 9 10/2 All fish collected were placed in live cars.
1977 Audubon May 96/3 The nocturnal seabird had been attracted, and possibly blinded, by the ship's lights and fallen into the live well.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 May viii. 10/2 McCarthy had better luck and soon, lunch, in the form of a three-pound fish, went to the ‘live well’, a term whose irony was no doubt lost on the fish.
7. Sport. Of a ball.
a. Originally and chiefly Baseball. = lively adj. 12.
ΚΠ
1879 Washington Post 12 May 1/4 The home-run of Lynch reminded one of the giant batting of the old days of live balls.
1904 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 2 Sept. 2/2 The ball had three ounces of hard rubber covered with yarn, and was called a live ball.
1962 Washington Post 27 May f21/2 Ball bouncing is rewarding. Use a ‘live’ tennis ball.
1994 Sports Illustr. 30 May 96/1 According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that year produced the most steals per game (1.70) since the live-ball era began in '20.
b. Originally Baseball. That is in play. Cf. dead adj. 21a.
ΚΠ
1890 Daily Independent (Monroe, Wisconsin) 27 Feb. The players must remain thirty foot from the line until the ball is again thrown into the field and has touched the ground, after which it again becomes a live ball.
1907 Times 20 May 9/2 There should be some penalty for what is, after all, as grave an error as to make the wrong hoop, or to lay a break with the live ball.
1972 Valley News (Van Nuys, Calif.) 8 Oct. (Northeast ed.) a33/2 The play went over though, since the foul had been committed while the ball was live.
1999 Another Vintage Liverpool Performance Sept. 16/1 His conduct when the ball was live was hardly exemplary either.
8.
a. Medicine. Designating vaccines that contain living cultured microorganisms (typically in an avirulent or attenuated form); employing or employed in such vaccines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > vaccine or antiserum > [adjective]
vaccigenous1868
vaccinogenic1881
live1909
1909 Lancet 21 Aug. 529/1 The inoculation of live vaccine gives a higher degree of immunity than the use of dead cultures.
1951 Jrnl. Immunol. 67 213 Soon after the discovery of the causative agent of poliomyelitis, Flexnor and Lewis were able to produce an immune status in monkeys by the parenteral inoculation of live virus.
1985 Jrnl. Med. Virol. 17 325 Live vaccination..stimulates a more durable serum antibody response.
2001 N. Jones Rough Guide Trav. Health i. 19 The oral immunization is live and remains so in the gut.
b. Of yogurt: containing living cultures of bacteria.
ΚΠ
1970 Brandon (Manitoba) Sun 14 May 10/4 John Lennon and Yoko Ono lap up live fig yoghurts.
1987 E. Ronay Bird's Eye Guide Healthy Eating Out 128 For afters there's live yoghurt and honey or fresh fruit.
1997 Guardian (Nexis) 10 June t16 Evidence shows that eating yoghurt (two tubs a day, live and with lactobacillus acidophilus) reduces recurrence [of thrush].
2004 Healthy Sept.–Oct. 30/3 Live yogurt replenishes friendly bacteria which are vital for proper digestion and important for natural immunity.
9. Acoustics. Of a room or enclosure: having a relatively long reverberation time. Opposed to dead adj. 14b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > [adjective] > reverberating or echoing > long reverberation time
live1930
1930 Jrnl. Acoustical Soc. Amer. 1 217 With the advent of radio broadcasting and sound pictures very ‘dead’ rooms have been built... Recently Schuster and Waetzmann (1929) have pointed out that Sabine's formula is essentially a ‘live’ room formula.
1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio ii. 33 Listening tests indicate that most people prefer a moderately ‘live’ acoustic.
1974 Which? Aug. 243/3 In a very live room—one with a lot of hard surfaces that can reflect sound—upper and middle frequencies will stand out more.
2001 F. A. Everest Master Handbk. Acoustics (ed. 4) xiii. 269 A very live room, such as a reverberation chamber, would show even greater variation.
10.
a. Of a performance, event, etc.: heard or watched at the time of its occurrence; esp. (of a radio, television, online broadcast, etc.) not pre-recorded.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [adjective] > types of performance
useful1740
unrehearsed1789
rehearsed1821
marionettish1873
non-stop1932
live1933
watchable1933
improv1953
under-rehearsed1963
impro1979
1933 B.B.C. Year-bk. 1934 248 Listeners have..complained of the fact that recorded material was too liberally used..but..transmitting hours to the Canadian and Australasian Zones are inconvenient for broadcasting ‘live’ material.
1944 Ann. Reg. 1943 348 It was still felt..that attendance at concerts and listening to ‘live’ performances belonged to a better order of things.
1955 Radio Times 22 Apr. 15/2 At the moment, Northern Ireland has no means of originating ‘live’ television programmes.
1970 New Scientist 2 July 13/1 We now accept full live coverage of soccer games in Mexico as a matter of course.
2001 Times 12 Sept. 22/4 The website would..include live racing, commentary and extensive form details.
2006 Environmental Health Perspectives 114 A291 (caption) South Korean soccer fans gathered in Seoul to watch a live broadcast of the 2002 World Cup quarter final match.
b. Of a recording, film, etc.: taken from or made at a live performance rather than in a studio. Cf. C.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > a sound recording > [adjective]
live1947
1947 Audio Engin. Dec. 27/2 It would be interesting to hear how a wide range live recording might sound.
1977 Washington Post 16 Jan. e5/3 His live album, recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1974.
1985 Sounds 27 July 2/1 The Sex Pistols have another live album coming out next week.
1990 Opera Now May 78/2 Live recording or not, muddled enthusiasm cannot rescue the Corale Amerina from some approximate tuning and lack of ensemble.
2007 News & Rec. (Greensboro, N. Carolina) (Nexis) 25 Oct. gt18 The purpose of the shoot was to get concert footage for their upcoming live music video.
11. Of a website or web page: accessible online.
ΚΠ
1995 Network World 13 Mar. 10/4 The Bellevue, Wash.-based company last week demonstrated a new version of its OpenMind groupware package that lets users embed live World-Wide Web pages in discussion databases.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 May (Central ed.) b4/6 Once live, Web pages are managed through a private control panel at Yahoo, which is where you check site traffic, customer e-mail and change service options.
2014 S. Shafiq Pract. Guide to SharePoint 2013 xii. 286 Your website is now live. Wait for a few seconds for the settings to take effect.
B. n.
1. With the and plural agreement. Living people as a class; the living. Contrasted with the dead. Cf. quick n.1 1a(b). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [noun] > collectively
livingeOE
earthwareeOE
quickeOE
fleshc1000
naturalsa1400
live1565
life1728
1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 125v A comfort for the liue, and token of their good heart.
1608 A. Willet Hexapla in Exodum 486 Both the liue and dead should be equally diuided.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 279 This Gentleman..that can put the Dead and the Live together in Dialogue.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh v. 200 Death quite unfellows us, Sets dreadful odds betwixt the live and dead.
1992 R. Kenan Let Dead bury their Dead xii. 328 Said the people in the church run to leave, but they'd hear the dead and the live fighting outside.
2. A live electrical conductor or terminal. Cf. neutral n. 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical appliances or devices > [noun] > electric plug > live conductor
live1966
1966 J. F. Whitfield Electr. Installations & Regulations vi. 123 Two-pin sockets and plugs. Live and neutral only are catered for in these units.
1970 Which? Aug. 256/2 Britain objected to black for the live, since in Britain it was being used for the neutral.
1987 S. Pople Explaining Physics (ed. 2) vi. 271 The cable for each circuit contains an earth wire as well as a live and a neutral.
2005 T. Bryan Constr. Technol. xxi. 243/1 After the service head, the supply company installs its meter(s) connected to the live and the neutral.
C. adv.
Chiefly with reference to live television, radio, etc.: (performed or broadcast) directly, without pre-recording; (heard, watched, etc.) at the time of occurrence. Cf. A. 10a.
ΚΠ
1948 Hollywood Q. 3 365/1 Thursday concert performed live (Haydn and Brahms).
1974 Times 14 Nov. 8/8 The hearing was televised live.
1985 Drama Rev. 29 62 Dog's Eye View increasingly takes place on film, rather than live on stage.
2006 Sun (Nexis) 25 Aug. (Sports section) Almost 80,000 people were inside Wembley, but millions watched it live on television.

Phrases

P1. real live: see real adj.2, n.2, and adv. Phrases 1.
†P2. to pluck (also tear) live asunder: to separate (something) while living (as a limb from the body). Obsolete. rare (only in Coleridge).
ΚΠ
1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini v. ii. 185 The ingrained instinct of old reverence, The holy habit of obediency, Must I pluck live asunder from thy name [Ger. Soll ich versagen lernen deinem Namen]?
a1834 S. T. Coleridge Lit. Remains (1836) II. 248 He has by guilt torn himself live-asunder from nature, and is, therefore, himself in a preter-natural state.
P3.
† a live certainty [humorously after a dead certainty (see dead adj. 31a)] Obsolete rare (an occasional substitution for) a ‘dead certainty’ (cf. dead adj. 31a).
ΚΠ
1855 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes II. xlii. 374 Then Mrs. Mackenzie would probably be with them to a live certainty.
P4. to go live: to be put into operation; to begin active and ongoing use (esp. as distinct from a test or trial period).
ΚΠ
1968 Statistician 18 206 This computer-based project..is due to go live at the end of this year.
1993 Computer Weekly 22 July 18/1 The first remote link..has gone live and will be used by consultants and doctors.
2008 Coventry Evening Tel. (Nexis) 1 Apr. 5 The much-anticipated new recycling and refuse collection service went live yesterday.

Compounds

live action n. action in films involving filming real people or animals, as contrasted with animation or computer-generated effects; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > filming > special techniques > [noun] > normal as opposed to animation, etc.
live action1957
1957 A. R. Manvell & J. Huntley Technique Film Music iii. 136 A great deal of Hollywood's comedy music is linked with the cartoon world and..a number of techniques associated with the animation studios are increasingly employed during the making of live-action scenes.
1960 O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV Working Terms 79 Live action, normal cinematography as opposed to Animation, Titles, etc.
1964 Listener 5 Nov. 735/3 There was a very long-drawn-out rescue scene in which live-action and graphics were mingled in a fashionable but not here very convincing way.
2003 Daily Tel. 23 May 25/2 The fusion of live action and computer graphics isn't seamless.
live-action role-player n. a participant in live-action role-playing; cf. LARPer n.
ΚΠ
1992 Re: Proposal: alt.games.frp.live-action in alt.config (Usenet newsgroup) 13 Oct. I've been a live action roleplayer for the last 5 years, involved in several different systems as player and game master/designer.
2009 E. Hemminger Mergence of Spaces v. 99 We already know that live-action role-players usually play pen & paper RPGs as well. But what about online or offline digital RPGs?
live-action role-playing n. participation in a role-playing game in which players act out the roles of their characters, typically using costumes and props; also attributive in live-action role-playing game; cf. LARP n., LARPing n.
ΚΠ
1989 Re: G.M. Mag. in rec.games.frp (Usenet newsgroup) It's pretty good—..with a far greater emphasis on Live Action Roleplaying than White Dwarf ever had.
1992 C. Bacon-Smith Enterprising Women ii. 17 Some gather to play board or live-action role-playing games.
1992 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 9 May 7 d Like her fellow heroes—in costume and carrying rubber weapons—she is being introduced to what is known in the vernacular of gamers as live-action role-playing.
2006 Wired May 68/1 These superfans continue to produce weekly podcasts and engage in live-action role-playing games inspired by the TV show.
† live ash n. U.S. Obsolete rare a kind of North American ash tree (genus Fraxinus), not identified; the wood of this tree.
ΚΠ
1849 Knickerbocker Nov. 429/1 We are in want of a load of shavins for kindlins in our offis this winter. Which of our subscribers..will send..a load or two of..cord-wood, either hickory, birch, saxafax or live ash.
1857 Trans. Michigan Agric. Soc. 8 729 The east half of the country is also heavily-timbered, but the sugar-maple..bass wood or live ash predominate.
livebearing adj. [ultimately after classical Latin vīviparus viviparous adj.; compare German lebendgebärend (late 19th cent. or earlier)] Zoology that gives birth to live young (as opposed to laying eggs); cf. livebearer n.
ΚΠ
1914 Copeia No. 13. 4 Most live-bearing Poecilliidae breed the year round in aquaria.
1952 G. F. Hervey & J. Hems Freshwater Trop. Aquarium Fishes 271 The Poeciliidae (Live-bearing Tooth-carps or Viviparous Top-minnows) is a family native only to the New World.
2002 P. Herring Biol. Deep Ocean x. 228 The parental investment strategy of live-bearing fishes parallels that of brood-bearing crustaceans.
live birth n. †an offspring of a viviparous animal (obsolete); the fact or condition of being born alive; the birth of living offspring; a child or animal born alive; cf. still-birth n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > confinement > [noun] > childbirth or delivery > live birth
live birth1712
1712 tr. H. More Immortality Soul ii. 97 (note) in Coll. Philos. Writings (ed. 4) A Humour contain'd in a thin Membrane, namely, in such Creatures as bring forth live Births, as if you should take away the Shell of an Egg.
1889 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon (at cited word) The aerated condition of the lungs is no proof of live-birth in the legal sense.
1980 Internat. Family Planning Perspectives 6 128/2 In developing countries, maternal mortality is as high as 250–1,000 per 100,000 live births.
2003 Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Nov. a17/1 In the fifth and sixth months, premature labor usually results in live birth.
live-born adj. born alive; contrasted with still-born adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > birth > [adjective] > born > alive
live-born1734
1734 J. Mackenzie Treat. Concerning Origin & Progress Fees 148 If he had a live-born Child by the Marriage, she hath Right to the Terce.
1874 Jrnl. Statist. Soc. 37 273 Clause 18 interposes no proper safeguard against the burial of live-born children as still-born.
1945 Jrnl. Obstetr. & Gynæcol. 52 35/1 Liveborn premature infants with a birth-weight of less than 2¾ pounds.
2003 European Jrnl. Epidemiol. 18 129/2 Controls were randomly selected from area hospitals in proportion to their contribution to the total population of liveborn infants.
† live-broken adj. Obsolete rare broken while still alive (cf. to break on the wheel at break v. 7b).
ΚΠ
1824 T. Campbell Theodric in Wks. (1837) 55 A wretch live-broken on misfortune's wheel.
† live-cannibalism n. Obsolete rare the practice of eating the flesh of human victims who are still alive.
ΚΠ
1804 Ann. Rev. 2 199/1 After these atrocities it would seem trifling to speak..of the live-cannibalism of Tongataboo.
live fence n. a barrier made of living plants; a hedge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a hedge > live hedge
quickc1660
live fence?1740
live fencing1829
?1740 Laird & Farmer xiii. 80 The Tenant is in the mean Time to leave a live Fence to the Incloser, namely, a Hedge of one Kind or other.
1858 J. A. Warder Hedges & Evergreens i. i. 13 Live-fences, or—as they are commonly called—Hedges, are a means of enclosure that belongs to an advanced state of civilization.
1882 W. D. Hay Brighter Britain! 192 We have done something towards making live-fences.
1992 W. T. Parsons & E. G. Cuthbertson Noxious Weeds Austral. 361/1 Patches of Opuntia spp. grow densely forming an impenetrable barrier, hence their use as live fences in some areas.
live fencing n. originally U.S. fencing made of living plants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > a barrier > [noun] > hedge or fence > a hedge > live hedge
quickc1660
live fence?1740
live fencing1829
1829 Massachusetts Spy 25 Mar. Messrs. G. Th. and Son have imported 75,000 hawthorns, for ‘live fencing’.
1925 Geogr. Jrnl. 66 414 The ‘Marumba’ (Ficus)..provides the native with bark cloth, live fencing, rope, bags.
2002 BioScience 52 782/2 Projects under way include..homestead woodlots, erosion prevention, and live fencing and hedges.
† live gang n. U.S. Obsolete a gang-saw used for cutting unprepared wood.
ΚΠ
1870 D. Craik Pract. Amer. Millwright & Miller xiv. 223 The live gang is used mostly for logs of different qualities and sizes.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1337/2 Live-gang, a gang-saw mill, so arranged as to cut through and through the logs without previous slabbing.
live goods n. now rare = livestock n. 1; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock
feec900
auchtOE
orfOE
avers1292
storea1300
bestialc1350
cattlea1400
ware1422
quickc1450
goods1472
stock?1523
chattel1627
live goods1635
team1655
creature1662
livestocka1687
living stock1690
farming stock1749
farm animal1805
fat-stock1881
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God 139 To exercise the like rage..upon his person or live-goods, which did the wrong, could be no true satisfaction either to the law, or party wronged.
1753 J. Wesley Extract Jrnl. 15 Some hundreds of them..had their own Houses broken up, with Windows, Window-cases, Beds, Tools, Goods of all Sorts, broke all to Pieces, or taken away by open Violence; their live Goods driven off.
1881 G. W. Cable Mme. Delphine ii. 5 Comely Ethiopians culled out of the less negroidal types of African live goods.
1889 W. Barrett Old Merchants N.Y. City viii. 100 These vessels traded to West Indies, Madeira, and Azores, carrying out grain, butter,..European and Indian goods, horses, sheep, and other live goods, with their provender.
1999 L. Laube Bound for Vietnam vi. 97 The live goods area, where big ducks quacked under wicker baskets.
live heading n. Printing = running title at running adj. 25.
ΚΠ
1874 A. Tolhausen & L. Tolhausen Technol. Dict. (new ed.) at Heading Live heading, der lebende Kolumnentitel; Titre courant des mots.
1914 Bull. Bibliiogr. Jan. 13/1 Lefvande kolumntitel, running title, live heading.
1952 C. H. Brown News Editing & Display xii. 177 A thumbnail half-tone or line drawing may be printed regularly with the column, either as part of a standing caption or live heading.
2007 V. Comonsoli in T. Dekker Lantern & Candlelight 175 In both Q1 and Q2 ‘The Epistle Dedicatory’ appears as the live heading in the first dedication.
† live hole n. Obsolete a hole or flue which acts as an outlet for smoke, light, etc.
ΚΠ
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 408/2 Clamp-bricks are burned in the following manner:—The flues or live holes—are carried up two courses high through the clamp.
1871 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts 728 The pasteboard must be pierced into the preparation, with live holes, for the escape of the luminous rays, which represent a star.
live load n. Engineering a temporary and varying load imposed on a structure by its use; contrasted with dead load at dead adj. 29.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [noun] > pressure > load > specific
live load1858
proof load1858
wind load1911
impact load1924
wind loading1924
surcharge1930
point load1937
preload1941
impact loading1948
1858 J. H. Latham Constr. Wrought Iron Bridges xi. 256 A girder is the only approved method of sustaining a live load in its transit over a bridge.
1908 M. S. Ketchum Design of Highway Bridges ii. 41 The live loads on railway bridges are properly a series of moving concentrated loads.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 9 Apr. c6/3 Floors that can bear up to 100 pounds a square foot of ‘live load’, or twice the requirement of ordinary office space.
live matter n. Printing type which has been set up and is ready to be printed; final copy.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1337/2 Live-matter (Printing), type in page or column ready for printing.
1912 G. A. Stevens N.Y. Typogr. Union No. 6 in Ann. Rep. Dept. Bureaus 1911 (N.Y. State Dept. Labor) II: Pt. I xxv. 465 In his fifth year the apprentice is employed full time at floor work, and during the last three months may be allowed to set live matter on a machine.
live one n. U.S. slang a person who or thing which represents a promising opportunity or a source of lively interest; spec. (a) a racehorse which is worth betting on (now rare); (b) a potential customer, victim, or participant; esp. a gullible person, a dupe.
ΚΠ
1840 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 3rd Ser. xviii He is all sorts of a hoss, and the best live one that ever cut dirt this side of the big pond.
1904 Southwestern Reporter 78 434/1 Dow Green remarked to her: ‘Here is a live one. Old man, you had just as well spend your money, for I am going to have some anyway.’
1908 K. McGaffey Sorrows Show Girl x. 116 Them dolls are always on the job and the only time they don't catch a live one is when their hands are tied.
1916 Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News 9 Feb. 5/1 Here I go and dig up a live one, and then I haven't got the nerve to bet my own judgment... She came second at eight to one. I only win fifty-five bucks and I ought to have 500!
1988 J. D. Pistone & R. Woodley Donnie Brasco 211 The comedian thinks he has a live one to banter with, so he goes at Lefty with wisecracks.
2003 N.Y. Mag. 21 Apr. 30/3 Once the [spiritual] reader has decided you are a live one (as a result of your snapping up the prayer candles or crystals).
† live-personal adj. Obsolete made or done in person.
ΚΠ
1614 T. Jackson Third Bk. Comm. Apostles Creede iii. xvii. §6 Moses' live-personal proposal.
live register n. now chiefly Irish English a register of workers, esp. used as an index for calculating percentage unemployment; (also) the number of people on such a register.
ΚΠ
1907 Econ. Jrnl. 17 67 The ‘live register’ of the Exchange consists always of the record cards of those who have registered or renewed registration within the past six working days.
1927 A. M. Carr-Saunders & D. C. Jones Surv. Social Struct. Eng. & Wales 152 The Unemployment figures were obtained by taking an average of the ‘live registers’ of the employment exchanges in Great Britain.
1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 9 May 166/3 The ‘live’ register has, it is true, dropped from 923 to 757, but these figures are now swollen..by the children who left school at the Easter recess.
2002 Jrnl. Econ. Lit. 40 271/1 How to measure the level of employability of those on the Live Register in an aggregate sense.
† live salesman n. Obsolete a livestock salesman.
ΚΠ
1805 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 27 Apr. 1/3 Notice to Gentlemen Graziers and Feeders. William Sherley, of Brill,..intends carrying on the business of a Live Salesman from Brill to London.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 193/2 Some of the most experienced ‘live salesmen’ and ‘dead salesmen’.
† live shape n. Obsolete living form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [noun] > living form
livelihead1557
live shape1635
vertical man1930
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God 90 The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, tooke their distinct specificall being, or live-shape from the first sinne.
1864 R. Browning Dramatis Personae 116 God only makes the live shape.
live steam n. Engineering steam supplied direct from a boiler, as opposed to steam that comes from an exhaust or has already been used; cf. dead steam n. at dead adj., n., and adv. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1858 I. Mayhew School Funds & School Laws Michigan iii. 381 Steam Heating Furnaces..are of different kinds. The one hitherto most in use, traverses with pipes the apartments to be heated, through which pipes live steam is sent.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 21 Oct. 3/2 The heat is supplied by the waste steam, supplemented if necessary by live steam.
1949 Tap & Tavern 18 Apr. 8/1 The drink..is made by mixing chocolate powder with milk,..and by injecting live steam into the drink.
2007 Energy Conversion & Managem. 48 336/2 The first rectifying column is heated by live steam.
live thorn adj. [after quickthorn n.] constructed of quickthorn; cf. live fence n.
ΚΠ
1847 R. S. Surtees Hawbuck Grange xii. 237 ‘Crash’ the wearer went through a rotten wattled hurdle; ‘swich’ he divided a live thorn fence.
1893 Daily News 29 June 5/2 Enclosed with a strong live-thorn palisade impenetrable to arrows.
1986 J. Derrett in Stud. New Test. V. 89 An extended palisade of stakes, well planted at an angle, filled with a live thorn hedge.
† live vat n. Tanning Obsolete a vat of lime which has not yet been used for soaking hides.
ΚΠ
1852 C. Morfit Arts of Tanning, Currying, & Leather-dressing xiii. 163 The fresh or live vat, is that which has not yet been worked.
† live voice n. Obsolete the voice of a person present; the spoken word considered as a source of authority or truth; in live voice [after post-classical Latin viva voce viva voce adv.] : = viva voce adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > voice or vocal sound > [noun]
reirdOE
voicec1330
stevenc1369
sound1385
laita1400
lively voice1532
pipe1567
live voice1610
vocalities1667
squall1725
vox1869
Hobson's choice1937
1610 T. Bell Catholique Triumph 3 After the death of the Apostles and all that age, which had heard our Lord speake in liue voyce vnto them; false and erronious doctrine began to intrude.
1613 T. Jackson Eternall Truth Script. ii. 367 For the begetting of true and liuely faith, we suppose the liue voice of an ordinary Ministery as the Organe, whereby [etc.].
1649 Bp. J. Hall Humble Motion to Parl. 32 Ineffectuall..if not quickned with some live-voyce and knowing assistance.
1744 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Mar. ix. 99 But to assert, without Exception, that a clayey Soil is proper to sow St. Foyne-seed in, may chance to lead those into a great Mistake and Loss, who tack their Credulity wholly to Book Advice, without consulting the live Voice.
live weight n. the weight of an animal before it is slaughtered and prepared as a carcass; also attributive and as adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > [noun] > weight of
live weight1785
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > amount determined by weighing > weight of an animal before it is slaughtered
live weight1785
1785 Ann. Agric. 4 172 Fat hogs to 16 score common, sell them at Shrewsbury by live weight at 4d. per lb.
1850 G. Law tr. J. B. Boussingault Rural Econ. ix. 455 The weight of the several animals must also be taken into account, in seeking to estimate the increase realized upon every 100 lbs. of live weight during the fattening.
1852 Trans. Michigan Agric. Soc. 3 151 Two hundred lambs..weighing some one hundred pounds..live weight.
1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 50 More than 3½ lb. of food to make 1 lb. of liveweight gain.
1972 Country Life 30 Nov. 1504/2 These small birds [sc. turkeys]..are killed out..when they achieve liveweights of about 8½ lb.
2000 Tuam (County Galway) Herald & Western Advertiser 8 July 8/1 (advt.) Ideally lambs should weigh between 39 and 42 kg. liveweight.
† live-wight n. Obsolete a living creature.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [noun]
shaftc888
blooda1325
livera1382
creaturea1387
live-wight1610
animate1642
life form1850
vitality1851
bioform1958
1610 H. Broughton Reuelation Holy Apocalyps (new ed.) xv. 237 One of the foure liue-wights, gaue to the seauen Angells, seauen golden cupps, full of the anger of God, who liueth for euer and euer.
1657 W. Rand tr. P. Gassendi Mirrour of Nobility v. 148 All which he possesses, seems to be no lesse common to all learned men, then the Air and Water are to all Live-wights.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xx. 51 Those Live-wights which have no Lungs, have no bladder.
live work n. Mining rare the part of mining concerned with the actual extraction and processing of ore; contrasted with dead-work n. 2; cf. also quick adj. 10a.
ΚΠ
1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall: Mines & Miners 148 We might distinguish these two kinds of work as dead and live work—the dead being that which proceeds in the dead rock, and the live that which is concerned in extracting and pulverizing the ores.
2005 I. Blanchard Mining, Metall. & Minting in Middle Ages III. xiv. 1629 At the pit each miner in the ‘gang’ worked for about 240 days a year, excavating when fully employed on ‘live’ work some four loads of ore.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

liveadj.2

Brit. /lɪv/, U.S. /lɪv/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: livelong adj.
Etymology: < live- (in livelong adj.: see discussion at that entry).
Now rare.
Only in the live day long (= the livelong day), the live night long (= the livelong night), and rarely the live year long (= the livelong year).
ΚΠ
1790 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum III. 280 So I, for my lost Darling's sake, Lament the live-day long.
1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey (2004) II. iii. vi. 122 It is in these moments, that we sit by the side of a waterfall, and listen to its music the live day long.
1844 T. Campbell in W. Beattie Life & Lett. (1850) I. xxv. 554 But thou—a more enchanting voice—Shalt dwell with us the live year long.
1851 G. Meredith Poems 146 In the boughs above, on the sward below, Chirping and singing the live day long.
1854 Knickerbocker July 88 That famed statue of the Protectress.., with its visor up, the live-night-long..keeps its watch upon the battlements of its beloved metropolis.
1868 S. Kerl Common-school Gram. Eng. Lang. 319 The century-living crow that caws the live day long.
1914 W. S. Blunt Poet. Wks. I. 188 Let me preach to thee of thyself the live night long.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

livev.1

Brit. /lɪv/, U.S. /lɪv/
Forms: 1. Present stem. a. Infinitive.

α. Old English liban (perhaps transmission error), Old English libban, Old English lybban, early Middle English lib, early Middle English libbenn ( Ormulum), Middle English libbe, Middle English lybbe.

β. early Old English liifgan, early Old English lyfgan, Old English hlifiga (Northumbrian), Old English lifgan, Old English lifian, Old English lifiende (present participle), Old English lifigan, Old English lifigean, Old English lyfian, Old English lyfigan, Old English lyfigean, late Old English liuian, early Middle English liuie, early Middle English liuiie, early Middle English liwe, early Middle English luuie, Middle English lif, Middle English life, Middle English lijf, Middle English lyuie, Middle English lyuye, Middle English lyvy, Middle English lyvye, Middle English–1600s lyue, Middle English–1700s liue, Middle English–1700s lyve, Middle English– live, late Middle English liff, late Middle English liffe, late Middle English lyf, late Middle English lyfe, late Middle English lyff, late Middle English lyffe, late Middle English lyfne (transmission error), late Middle English lyfue, late Middle English lywe, 1500s lyvie, 1800s– lib (U.S. regional (in African-American usage)), 1800s– livven (English regional (Lancashire)); Scottish pre-1700 lif, pre-1700 life, pre-1700 liff, pre-1700 liue, pre-1700 liv, pre-1700 liw, pre-1700 liwe, pre-1700 luf, pre-1700 lufe, pre-1700 luff, pre-1700 luif, pre-1700 lyf, pre-1700 lyfe, pre-1700 lyff, pre-1700 lyffe, pre-1700 lyif, pre-1700 lyue, pre-1700 lyve, pre-1700 lywe, pre-1700 1700s– live; N.E.D. (1903) also records forms Middle English liwi, Middle English liwy, Middle English luf, Middle English lufe.

γ. Old English leofian (rare), Old English leofigean (rare), early Middle English leofue, early Middle English leouie, early Middle English leuie, early Middle English liouie, Middle English lefe, Middle English–1500s leue, Middle English–1600s leve, late Middle English leeue, late Middle English lef, late Middle English leffe, late Middle English lewe, late Middle English leyffe, late Middle English–1600s lieve; English regional (chiefly northern) 1800s leve, 1800s– leeve, 1900s– leave; Scottish pre-1700 laue, pre-1700 leaf, pre-1700 leaue, pre-1700 leawe, pre-1700 leef, pre-1700 lef, pre-1700 lefe, pre-1700 leff, pre-1700 leffe, pre-1700 leif, pre-1700 leife, pre-1700 leiff, pre-1700 leiffe, pre-1700 leiue, pre-1700 leiv, pre-1700 leiw, pre-1700 leiwe, pre-1700 leue, pre-1700 lewe, pre-1700 leyf, pre-1700 leyff, pre-1700 leyve, pre-1700 lief, pre-1700 1700s–1800s leave, pre-1700 1800s leve, pre-1700 1800s– leeve, pre-1700 1800s– leive, pre-1700 1800s– lieve; also Irish English 1800s leev, 1800s leeve.

b. 3rd singular indicative

α. early Old English leafað (Mercian), Old English leofaþ, Old English liofæð (Northumbrian), Old English liofaþ, Old English liofað, Old English liofeð, Old English–early Middle English leofað, Old English–early Middle English leofeð, late Old English liofæþ, early Middle English leofæð, early Middle English leoueð, early Middle English leueð, Middle English leueþ, Middle English leueþe, Middle English leuis, Middle English leveþ, Middle English levis, Middle English levith, Middle English levys, late Middle English lefes, late Middle English leffez, late Middle English leues, late Middle English leueth, late Middle English leuez, late Middle English leuiþ, late Middle English leuith, late Middle English leuys, late Middle English leuyth, late Middle English levyth, late Middle English–1600s leveth; English regional (northern) 1700s–1800s leeves, 1800s– leaves; Scottish pre-1700 leeues, pre-1700 leffis, pre-1700 leffys, pre-1700 lefis, pre-1700 lefys, pre-1700 leiffis, pre-1700 leifis, pre-1700 leivis, pre-1700 leuis, pre-1700 levis, pre-1700 levys, pre-1700 lewis, pre-1700 lewys, pre-1700 leyfis, pre-1700 lieves.

β. Old English lifaþ, Old English lifað, Old English lyfað, Old English lyfeð, Old English–early Middle English lifeð, Old English (Northumbrian)–Middle English lifes, Old English–Middle English lifeþ, early Middle English lifeþþ ( Ormulum), early Middle English liued, early Middle English liueð, early Middle English luueð, early Middle English luueðe, Middle English lifeth, Middle English liueþ, Middle English liuez, Middle English liuis, Middle English liuyth, Middle English liveþ, Middle English liveth, Middle English livith, Middle English livyth, Middle English lyfeþ, Middle English lyfiþ, Middle English lyueþ, Middle English lyuiþ, Middle English lyuith, Middle English lyuuth, Middle English lyuys, Middle English lyuyþ, Middle English lyuyth, Middle English lyves, Middle English lyveþ, Middle English lyveþe, Middle English lyveth, Middle English lyvis, Middle English lyvith, Middle English lyvyth, Middle English–1500s lyueth, Middle English–1600s liues, Middle English– lives, late Middle English liffes, late Middle English liffez, late Middle English lyfes, late Middle English lyffes, late Middle English lyffez, late Middle English lyffis, late Middle English lyffys, late Middle English lyfis, late Middle English lyfys, late Middle English lyues, late Middle English lyuyð; U.S. regional 1800s– lib (in African-American usage), 1900s– live; Scottish pre-1700 liffis, pre-1700 liues, pre-1700 liuis, pre-1700 livis, pre-1700 loues, pre-1700 lwffis, pre-1700 lyfis, pre-1700 lyuis, pre-1700 lyvis, pre-1700 lyvys, pre-1700 lywys, pre-1700 1700s– lives.

2. Past tense

α. early Old English liifde, Old English lifode, Old English lyfde, Old English lyfode, Old English–early Middle English lifde, Old English (probably transmission error)–Middle English lifd, Old English–Middle English lifede, Old English–Middle English lyfede, late Old English liuode, early Middle English lifuede, early Middle English liwede, early Middle English luuede, early Middle English luuuede, Middle English liuede, Middle English livede, Middle English livid, Middle English lyfed, Middle English lyfyd, Middle English lyuet (in a late copy), Middle English lyuide, Middle English lyuyde, Middle English lyvid, Middle English–1500s lyuede, Middle English–1500s lyuid, Middle English–1500s lyuyd, Middle English–1500s lyvyd, Middle English–1600s lyued, Middle English–1600s lyved, Middle English–1700s liued, Middle English– lived, late Middle English liffed, late Middle English liffid, late Middle English lyffedde, late Middle English lyffede, late Middle English lyffyd, late Middle English lyfuyd, late Middle English lyvit, 1700s liv'd; English regional (Lancashire) 1800s livent, 1800s livt; U.S. regional 1900s– lib (in African-American usage), 1900s– libed (in African-American usage), 1900s– live; Scottish pre-1700 liffit, pre-1700 liffyt, pre-1700 lifit, pre-1700 lifyt, pre-1700 livid, pre-1700 livit, pre-1700 lufit, pre-1700 lufyt, pre-1700 lyffit, pre-1700 lyffyt, pre-1700 lyuet, pre-1700 lyuit, pre-1700 lyvit, pre-1700 lyvyd, pre-1700 lyvyt, pre-1700 lywyd, pre-1700 lywyt, pre-1700 1800s– lived.

β. Old English–early Middle English leofede, Old English–early Middle English leofode, early Middle English lefde, early Middle English lefede, early Middle English lefuede, early Middle English leofedæ, early Middle English leouede, early Middle English leouuede, early Middle English lieuede, Middle English left, Middle English lefte, Middle English leued, Middle English leuede, Middle English leuid, Middle English leuyd, Middle English leuyt (in a late copy), Middle English leved, Middle English levede, Middle English lieued, Middle English lieved, late Middle English leuenden (plural, transmission error), late Middle English lewyd; English regional (chiefly northern) 1800s leev'd, 1800s leeved, 1800s leev't, 1800s– leevt, 1800s– lev; Scottish pre-1700 leaved, pre-1700 leavit, pre-1700 leffyt, pre-1700 lefit, pre-1700 leiffit, pre-1700 leifit, pre-1700 leiuet, pre-1700 leiuit, pre-1700 leiv'de, pre-1700 leivit, pre-1700 leiwit, pre-1700 leued, pre-1700 leuit, pre-1700 leved, pre-1700 levid, pre-1700 levit, pre-1700 levyt, pre-1700 lewed, pre-1700 lewide, pre-1700 lewyt, pre-1700 lievde, pre-1700 liewit, pre-1700 1700s 2000s– leived, 1800s– leeved.

3. Past participle

α. Old English gelifd, Old English lifd, Old English lyfod, early Middle English iliuet, early Middle English iliuid, early Middle English lipt, early Middle English yliued, Middle English iliued, Middle English ilyued, Middle English ilyvyd (in a late copy), Middle English lifid, Middle English livid, Middle English lyvid, Middle English lyvyd, Middle English ylyued, Middle English–1500s lyuyd, Middle English–1600s liued, Middle English–1600s lyued, Middle English–1600s lyved, Middle English– lived, late Middle English lifed, late Middle English liffed, late Middle English liffid, late Middle English liffyd, late Middle English liffyde, late Middle English lyud, late Middle English lywith, 1700s liv'd, 1800s libbed (U.S. regional (in African-American usage)); Scottish pre-1700 lifit, pre-1700 lyfit, pre-1700 lyved, pre-1700 lyvit, pre-1700 1800s– lived.

β. Old English geleofad, Old English leofod, early Middle English ileoued, early Middle English ileued, early Middle English yleued, Middle English leued, Middle English leuet (in a late copy), Middle English leuyt (in a late copy), Middle English lieved, late Middle English leuyd, late Middle English leved, late Middle English levid, late Middle English levyd, late Middle English leyd (probably transmission error); Scottish pre-1700 lavit, pre-1700 leavit, pre-1700 leiffit, pre-1700 leifit, pre-1700 leived, pre-1700 leivit, pre-1700 leuit, pre-1700 leved, pre-1700 levit, pre-1700 levyt, pre-1700 lewit, pre-1700 leyff, pre-1700 leyffyt, pre-1700 lievit, 1800s– leeved.

γ. early Middle English ilyue, late Middle English lifen, 1500s lyuen, 1500s–1600s liuen, 1600s liven.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian libba (West Frisian libbia ), Old Dutch libben (Middle Dutch lēven , Dutch leven ), Old Saxon libbian , libban (Middle Low German lēven ), Old High German lebēn (Middle High German leben , German leben ), all showing a similar semantic range, Old Icelandic lifa to live, to remain, Norn (Shetland) liva , lava to live, Old Swedish liva , leva , (runic) lifa to live (Swedish leva , †lefva to live; the sense ‘to remain’ is expressed by the prefixed verb kvarleva , †qvarlefva ), Old Danish livæ , levæ to live (Danish leve ), Gothic liban to live < an ablaut variant (zero grade) of the same Indo-European base as belive v.1 and leave v.1 Compare life n.In Old English originally a weak Class III verb (West Saxon libban (with consonant gemination; compare Forms 1aα), Anglian lifgan ; past tense lifde ), but the inflection was influenced at an early stage by Class II weak forms, as also in Old Frisian and Old Saxon. (The inflection of the verb also seems to be influenced by the inflection of Class I weak verbs, but the detailed history of the inflection of Class III weak verbs in general is uncertain and disputed; for a fuller discussion of the Old English forms see A. Campbell Old Eng. Gram. (1959) §§762, 766, and compare also H. M. Flasdieck ‘Untersuchungen über die germanischen schwachen Verben III. Klasse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Altenglischen’ in Anglia 59 (1935) 1–192.) Complete assimilation to the Class II weak conjugation in Old English is attested in the by-form lifian (past tense lifode ; compare Old Frisian (past tense) livade beside lifde ). The distinction between Class III present tense forms of the Anglian type (lifgan ; with non-syllabic g ) and Class II present tense forms (lifian , lifigan , occasionally also spelt lifgan ) is not always clear even in Old English; by the beginning of the Middle English period the Class III verb forms had been completely replaced by or merged with the Class II forms (see Forms 1aβ and compare especially early Middle English liuie ). The voiced labiodental fricative is regularly represented as f in Old English (as in lifian ; Kentish libgende for living adj. is probably an archaic spelling); the expected Middle English forms are liue , live , etc. Later forms such as Middle English lif are probably to be explained by devoicing of the fricative in word-final position (compare the earlier devoicing of the final consonant in life n.). This spelling of the consonant seems occasionally to have been analogically extended throughout the paradigm (compare e.g. Middle English 3rd singular present indicative forms lefes , lifeth : see Forms 1bα and1bβ respectively). Forms with back mutation are originally found regularly in Old English in the 2nd and 3rd singular present indicative (e.g. liofað , leofað ; compare Forms 1bα) and the imperative singular, but the use of the stem form leof- was also extended analogically, sometimes throughout the paradigm (Old English leofian , past tense leofode ; i.e. weak Class II). These forms survive into Middle English (compare early Middle English leouie at Forms 1aγ) and are partly reflected in forms such as Middle English leve at Forms 1aγ (with open long ē by Open Syllable Lengthening.) However, spellings such as leve also reflect Open Syllable Lengthening (to close long ē ) of the stem vowel i in live , and this form is continued in English regional (northern) leeve (compare also early modern English lieve and Older Scots leif at Forms 1aγ). The forms of the verb occasionally seem to show rounding of the vowel i before a following labial consonant; compare Old English lybban (see Forms 1aα) and early Middle English luuie (see Forms 1aβ), although it is possible that the latter form may show a spelling for a mid front rounded vowel (and hence belong at Forms 1aγ). Older Scots forms such as luff (see Forms 1aβ) show a parallel but independent development (see A. J. Aitken & C. Macafee Older Scots Vowels (2002) §14.19.(9) and compare δ. forms at livery n.). Occasional forms with spellings indicating a long stem vowel ī (e.g. Old English liifgan, Middle English lijf : see Forms 1aβ) are perhaps influenced by līf life n. The rare Old English (Northumbrian) form hlifiga probably shows a hypercorrect spelling resulting from the early loss of a distinction between hl- and l- in this dialect. In the past tense, the inherited weak Class III forms show syncopation of the vowel between stem and suffix (Old English and early Middle English lifde ; see Forms 2α and compare Old Saxon libda , liƀda ). Middle English forms such as liuede probably continue weak Class II past tense forms. Middle English forms such as lefte (see Forms 2β) perhaps show influence from the paradigm of leave v.1 In Middle English and early modern English the verb occasionally shows a strong participle (i.e. liven ; see Forms 3γ). In Old English the prefixed form gelibban , gelifian (compare y- prefix) is also attested in various senses, e.g. to be alive, to pass one's life, to survive, live to see, to experience; compare also alibban , alifian alive v., belibban , belifian to deprive of life (compare be- prefix), mislibban , mislifian mislive v., oferlibban , oferlifian overlive v.
1.
a. intransitive. To be alive; to possess life (see life n. 1d), either as an animal or as a plant; to be capable of vital functions. In this sense the simple present is now archaic or rhetorical; the present progressive is/are living is the usual form.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (intransitive)]
liveeOE
aliveeOE
ylivec950
won971
goc1225
movea1325
breathea1382
reigna1400
to pass on earth (also mould)c1400
to draw (one's) breath?1570
exist1578
respire1619
to tread clay, this earth, shoe leather1789
to grab on1861
to store the kin1866
eOE (Mercian) Vespasian Psalter (1965) cxiii. 25 (18) Sed nos qui uiuimus benedicimus dominum : ah we ða ðe lifgað we bledsiað dryhten.
eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 900 Æðelwald..hæfde ealle þa geatu forworht in to him & sæde þæt he wolde oðer oððe þær libban oððe þær licgan.
OE Blickling Homilies 57 Swa se lichoma buton mete & drence leofian ne mæg, swa þonne seo saul..hungre & þurste heo bið cwelmed.
a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 65 Vre gultes lauerd bon us forȝeuen al swa we doþ alle men þet liuen.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 2330 Ich sugge þe to soðe þat ȝet leoueð [c1300 Otho leueþ] þi broðer.
a1350 (c1307) in R. H. Robbins Hist. Poems 14th & 15th Cent. (1959) 22 (MED) Y deȝe, y ne may lyuen na more.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) ii. l. 310 To þe Kyng Egbriht alle were þei gyuen for þer heritage þer to die or lyuen.
?a1425 Mandeville's Trav. (Egerton) (1889) 9 (MED) Þerfore may na beste ne fewle liffe þare so es þe aer drye.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xiv. 161 And certys, for to lyf or dy, I shall not fayll.
?1520 J. Rastell Nature .iiii. Element sig. Biij I am for you so necessary ye can not lyue without me.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. v. 58 Now, this second Plant liued in the first Plant ere it liued in it selfe; and all liuing wights doe liue, moue, and feele..afore they come foorth.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. xlv. 3 And Ioseph said..Doeth my father yet liue ? View more context for this quotation
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. IV iv. 309 Plants are said by some kind of analogie to live..yet they cannot be said properly to live…Brutes are said properly to live, because they have a true self-motion.
1706 E. Vernon Corona Civica 12 Man by its Office lives, without it dies.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 198 Those parts may be said to live no longer when the circulation ceases.
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais xli. 20 He lives, he wakes—tis Death is dead, not he.
1886 W. D. Howells Indian Summer ii. 15 You knew Mr. Bowen was no longer living?
1940 R. Wright Native Son iii. 331 For the corpse is not dead! It still lives!
2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life ii. xviii. 446 In addition there are..the macropods (kangaroos and wallabies) whose remarkably efficient leaping locomotion is unique among all large animals that have ever lived.
b. intransitive. figurative. Chiefly poetic. Of a thing: to exist, be found.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > [verb (intransitive)]
liveeOE
beOE
i-bea1175
befindc1175
to be beleft1340
to consist of1565
exist1570
re1597
breathe1652
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) lviii. 445 Gif we ne gebetað ðæt on us deadbæres is ðurh synna, ðonne acwilð ðæt ðætte on us ær lifde ðurh god weorc.
OE Beowulf (2008) 3167 Hi..forleton eorla gestreon eorðan healdan, gold on greote, þær hit nu gen lifað eldum swa unnyt swa hyt [æro]r wæs.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 18797 Forr þi lifenn aȝȝ occ aȝȝ. & lasstenn alle þingess. I godess herrte. i godess witt Þatt lifeþþ æfre & lassteþþ.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) 1299 Al that euere in denemark liueden On mine armes faste clyueden.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §141 Hir deeth shal alwey lyuen [c1415 Lansd. lyfe], & hire ende shal euere mo bigynne.
?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1886) iii. met. xi. l. 25 But yif so were þat the noryssynges of reson ne lyuede I-plowngyd in the depthe of yowre herte.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II ii. ii. 79 We are on the earth, Where nothing liues but crosses, cares and griefe. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. i. 110 No glory liues behind the backe of such. View more context for this quotation
1606 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me sig. F3 And yet there liues more pittie in the earth, Then in the flint-bosomes of her children.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam xciv. 142 There lives more faith in honest doubt, Believe me, than in half the creeds. View more context for this quotation
1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxxxvi. 4 In all that bodily largeness, Lives not a grain of salt, breathes not a charm anywhere.
1909 H. T. M. Bell Poems 119 Now in this evening walk there lives anew That joyous summer evening long ago..when first I walked with you.
1996 D. Levertov Sands of Well i. 12 In these forests there live certain events, shards of memory.
2.
a. intransitive. To sustain oneself in life, esp. with food; to feed, subsist. In later use also: to support oneself by means of a source of income. Chiefly with by, †in, †of, off, on, upon, †with (the kind or source of sustenance).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eat [verb (intransitive)] > maintain life with food
liveeOE
flit?c1225
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > flatter servilely or curry favour with [verb (transitive)] > sponge on
live1583
sponge1677
to feed on1733
eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) i. xx. 62 Eft genim swines scearn þæs þe on dun lande & wyrtum libbe.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxvi. 490 Sume hi leofodon be ofæte & wyrtum: sume be agenum geswince.
OE Blickling Homilies 51 Godes is þæt yrfe þe we big leofiaþ.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7775 Cullfre ne lifeþþ nohht bi flessh.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 573 Foueles, weren ðer-inne cumen..And mete quorbi ðei migten liuen.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. iv. 4 A man lyueth not in breed aloon.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11109 Þis childe..liued wit rotes and wit gress, Wit honi o þe wildernes.
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xxii. l. 217 Tresour to lyue by to here lyues ende.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 242 Many..þat wolen make hem self gentel men & han litel or nouȝt to lyue onne.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ix. l. 416 Leiff on ȝour awin.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccvii. 244 They coude fynde nothynge to lyue by in the playne countrey.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxxxxijv To whom the kyng assigned an honest pencion to live on.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. F8v [They] are to be compelled to worke, and not to liue vpon other mens labours.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 147 The Agriophagi..liue most of panthers and lions flesh.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xlii. 294 They that served at the Altar lived on what was offered.
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 20 A person, at all thoughtfull of himself and Conscience, had much better chuse to live with nothing but Beans and Pease-Pottage.
1750 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. II. 319 That the king might live of his own without taking unusual prises.
1755 J. Wesley Primitive Physick (ed. 5) 31 [For Asthma] live a Fortnight on boiled Carrots.
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xvi. 302 The spider lives upon flies.
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 926/1 The name..of a tribe of beetles, including those which live by suction of the tender parts of vegetables.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour i. iii. 9 He then lived on his ‘means’ for a while.
1927 F. Balfour-Browne Insects ii. 51 There are insects, such as aphides or ‘greenfly’, some of which live upon comparatively soft plant tissues.
1937 P. Sturges Easy Living in A. Horton Three More Screenplays (1998) 161 A nincompoop living on his father's charity.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. xxv. 471 Some of these parasites, after having killed the host, live on the corpse.
1951 T. Capote Grass Harp (1952) i. 12 Dolly, who lived off sweet foods, was always baking a pound cake.
1976 Daily Mirror 16 July 3/4 He..was living on what his wife Susan could raise by selling her furniture and jewellery.
2006 S. M. Stirling Sky People ix. 204 Fresh meat was always welcome, when you'd been living on trail-jerky for days.
b. intransitive. figurative, esp. with reference to metaphorical sources of nourishment.
ΚΠ
OE Blickling Homilies 57 Þa gastlican lare.., þe ure saul big leofaþ & feded bið.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 89 Ðe mann ne leueð naht he [read be] bread ane, ac leueð bi ða wordes ðe gað ut of godes muðe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 15614 I. warne ȝou..to liue a-pon his lare.
?1650 T. Jordan Claraphil & Clarinda sig. B8 Lov's Votaries enthrall each others Soul, Till both of them do live upon Parol.
1710 A. Hill Elfrid ii. 11 Ah, no, Love lives on hearty Hope, Ordelia.
1754 J. Shebbeare Marriage Act I. xlii. 310 They..agreed to..live on Letters,..till the painful Age should be lapsed which held them apart.
1844 A. B. Welby Poems (1867) 49 To live untill this tender heart On which it lives is dead.
1930 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1929 81 671 The two young men were again reduced to living on hope.
1984 P. Ackroyd T. S. Eliot iv. 85 They lived off each other's nerves.
2000 G. Marinovich & J. Silva Bang-Bang Club ix. 108 Bafana had been a true adrenaline junkie,..living on the violence, feeding off it, and there was only one way it could end.
c. intransitive. With off (also on, upon): to impose upon (someone) for maintenance or sustenance. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [verb (transitive)] > exploit or take advantage of > specifically a person
to prey upon1610
impose1667
picaroon1681
live1712
to twirl (a person) round one's finger1748
to get over ——1784
exploit1838
to play (it) low down (on)1864
to avail upona1871
pole1906
to put on1958
1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 264. ⁋2 Irus..spent some Time after with Rakes who had lived upon him.
1885 W. D. Howells Rise Silas Lapham xxiii. 417 It's my business who lives off me; and so I tell you..I'm willing to take care of Zerrilla.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 84 Sometimes they were..living upon their friends.
1914 J. L. Williams in K. Coe & W. H. Cordell Pulitzer Prize Plays 1918–1934 (1935) 8/2 But you wouldn't live on a man you didn't really love!
1990 Nat. Hist. June 6/3 He lived off his uncomplaining old mother, hardworking but poor.
2005 Missing Person (2006) vii. 104 I'll bet you dollars to donuts that they're living off their parents.
3. intransitive. To procure the means of subsistence, esp. habitually; to obtain a livelihood, make a living. With by, †of, on, upon, †with.to live by one's fingers' ends: see finger end n. Phrases 5. to live by one's wits: see wit n. 3c. to live from hand to mouth: see hand-to-mouth adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > earn one's living
liveeOE
get?1529
to earn (also get, make, etc.) a (also one's) living1632
to cut one's own grass1863
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iv. iv. 274 Þæt mynster..weorod nimeð muneca, þa..bi heora agnum hondgewinne lifgað.
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 73 Forþam þæt beoð þonne riht munecas, gif hy libbað be þam geswince heora agenra handa.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 91 (MED) He ne hafð bute ðurh his handiswinke bi to libbenne.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 213 Hali men sumhwile liueden bi hare honden.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 964 Þe scottes sede þat þet lond noȝt inou be To hom bothe to libbe by as hii miȝte ise.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1872) IV. 311 He made his douȝtres use hem to wolle craft... Þey schulde, ȝif hem nedede, lyve by þe craft.
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. xi. l. 280 A feloun was sauid Þat hadde lyued al his lyf with lesinges & þeftis.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 160 Comoun womman, þat leuyth by here body.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iii [He] lyued by the laboure of his handes pourely.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 612/2 Thou lyvest of nothyng but of pollyng.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxiiiiv Men..had liued by the kynges wages, more then a few yeres.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus iii. iii. 1291 A dunce I see is a neighbourlike brute beast, a man may liue by him.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iii. xix. 178 They lived of fishing at sea, and of seeds.
1675 T. Brooks Paradice Opened 17 God left man..to live..by his own industry.
1713 R. Steele Englishman No. 24. 161 A whimsical Fellow..liv'd upon setting Stones in Wrist-Buttons.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) II. 428 Every one..must live by his trade.
1887 A. Jessopp Arcady i. 11 Those luxuries which the big man consumes..the small man lives by.
1893 T. R. R. Stebbing Hist. Crustacea xxii. 349 The species..is notable for making its home in the beautiful silicious sponge,..in which it can scarcely be expected to live by sucking the juices of fish.
1939 E. D. Laborde tr. E. de Martonne Shorter Physical Geogr. (rev. ed.) xx. 311 The polar bear..avoids the mainland and lives by fishing.
1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound 15 The people live by cultivating..root-vegetables.
2002 A. Mason People around World 21/2 The original settlers of the far north..still live by herding reindeer.
4. intransitive. With adverb or adverbial phrase (also occasionally adjective or noun complement). To pass one's life in a specified fashion.
a. With reference to the manner of regulation of conduct, esp. in a moral aspect.to live in sin: see sin n. 2d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > spending time > spend time [verb (intransitive)] > spend one's life
liveeOE
to live one's own life1833
the world > action or operation > behaviour > way of life > lead one's life in specific way [verb (intransitive)]
leadc900
liveeOE
to live one's own life1833
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) i. xvi. 64 Ærest bi biscopum, hu hy mid heora geferum drohtian & lifgan [OE Corpus Cambr. lifian] sculon?
OE Laws of Edgar (Nero E.i) iv. i. §7. 208 Þa Godes þeowas..libban clænan life, þæt hy þurh þa clænnysse us to Gode þingian mægen.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 372 & ȝuw maȝȝ ben þiss ilke word God lare. hu ȝuw birrþ libbenn.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 4025 (MED) Hit is ney vif ȝer þat we abbeþ yliued in such vice.
c1350 Ayenbite (1866) 265 Lybbe we sobreliche.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 581 Þaȝ þou a sotte lyuie,..by-þenk þe symtyme.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 1 (MED) He þat leuys here ryȝtwysly..His soul neuer schal ponyschyd be.
c1480 (a1400) St. Luke 32 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 247 How þai liffyt her but blame.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 6 Wych tyme he lyvyd more vertusely.
1609 J. Skene tr. Stat. Robert II in Regiam Majestatem 39 Ilk ane of them sall leaue leallie and trewlie in their office.
1615 T. Adams Englands Sicknes 56 Some Papists amongst vs (and those very few) liue in more formall and morall honesty.
a1706 J. Evelyn Hist. Relig. (1850) I. ii. 174 They live like goats, and die like asses.
1788 R. Bage James Wallace I. 175 He..was disposed to retire into France, live frugally and virtuously, if he was able, and wait events.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 63 Living on this wise, we..shall pass our days in good hope.
1905 Eng. Hist. Rev. 20 658 At a time when lofty ideals were in little favour he strove to live uprightly and serve his God and king.
1975 Jrnl. Confl. Resol. 19 619 By living righteously, I can justify the belief that I am saved.
2006 J. Annas in D. Copp Oxf. Handbk. Ethical Theory ii. 522 Still less is it plausible to think that the agent who thinks that living virtuously is the best specification of a flourishing life will be acting for egoistic reasons.
b. With reference to personal conditions, status, or quality of life, as one's degree of happiness, comfort, etc.to live in clover: see clover n. 3. to live fast: see fast adv. and int. Phrases 2b. to live happy (also happily) ever after: see happy adj. and n. Phrases 6.
ΚΠ
OE Beowulf (2008) 99 Swa ða drihtguman dreamum lifdon, eadiglice.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 5207 Þær he shollde libbenn. Wiþþ resste. & ro.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14896 Æluric luuede murie.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1588 (MED) Þus þei left in likyng a god while after.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 11132 To speke of nedes of þair huse Als dos þe men þat liues in spouse.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope i. xii Better worthe is to lyue in pouerte surely then to lyue rychely beyng euer in daunger.
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) i. 228 He levys at es yat frely levys.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 9760 And fele..fre kynges frusshet to dethe, Þat might haue leuyt as lordes in þere lond yet.
a1572 J. Knox Hist. Reformation Scotl. in Wks. (1846) I. 364 To suffer everie man to leaf at libertie of conscience.
1611 Bible (King James) Acts xxiv. 5 After the most straitest sect of our religion, I liued a Pharisee.
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xxi. 15) 167 Who erst lived at the full in his fathers house.
1695 J. Collier Misc. upon Moral Subj. 171 He that would have his Health hold out, must not Live too fast.
1719 J. T. Philipps tr. B. Ziegenbalg Thirty-four Confer. 316 The Inhabitants live very easie and happily in all these Four Provinces.
1810 S. Green Reformist I. 34 Old Mr. Ellingford, though he lived close, known to be immensely rich.
1836 W. E. Forster in T. W. Reid Life W. E. Forster (1888) I. iii. 79 My parents are as poor as rats..and consequently we live in quite a small way.
1859 G. Meredith Juggling Jerry x I..have lived no gipsy.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. i. 8 They lived very much to themselves, and scarcely interfered with the dominant party.
1939 H. Miller Tropic of Capricorn 39 He lived frugally, sending the best part of his wages to his wife and children.
1949 World Politics 2 64 The designs of foreigners to live extravagantly at our expense.
1988 A. Storr Solitude (1989) vi. 83 Monks no longer lived alone but shared the life of dedication to God in communities.
1991 A. Granger Season for Murder (1992) i. 2 If she lived modestly..she would be able to afford the price of a British Rail season ticket.
2007 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 12 Nov. 25 He earned a great deal of money, but kept little of it, living extravagantly and paying vast sums to his ex-wives.
c. With reference to the rule or guiding principle, or to the object and purpose, of one's life. Frequently with for.
ΚΠ
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) i. xv. 60 Æfter þon þe heo lærdon, heo sylfe þurh all lifdon.
OE Blickling Homilies 35 Geþencean we þæt we ealne þysne gear lifdon mid ures lichoman willan.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Juliana (Bodl.) l. 719 (MED) Lustnið lustiliche hali writes lare, & liuieð [c1225 Royal luuieð] þrefter.
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 189 Þi deaþ..do me liuien to þe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16424 We [MS He] haf vr lagh,..þat we liue wit al in land.
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay 20 Ane man lwffis notht god ower al thyng..na liffis notht efter his halie wil.
1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 23 Giue euerie man mycht leue according to his vocation.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 126 Euery man liue for himselfe.
1656 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. II. v. 26 Maligned by those who lived after Tyrannicall institutions.
1751 E. Lewis Sacrament Plain & Rational Inst. ii. 24 If we sincerely believe in him, are seriously attentive to his Doctrine, and live in an exact Conformity thereto.
1855 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Apr. in J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) (1860) 325 Did you ever eat a planked shad? Then you have something yet to live for.
1862 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia III. xi. i. 34 They saw no society; lived wholly to their work.
1890 Science 10 Jan. 20 Men absorbed in and living only for pure science and high scholarship.
1920 B. W. Sinclair Poor Man's Rock 286 She lived for herself,..spending my money like water to make a showing.
1992 Harvard Theol. Rev. 85 489 That ideal state in which we would understand reality without distortion and in which we would live accordingly.
1993 J. Green It: Sex since Sixties 243 Because we don't have children, we live for self-indulgence.
2006 Slavic Rev. 65 895 Ever striving to live according to his convictions, Peter became a vegetarian in his final years.
d. With reference to a mental state which dominates or characterizes a person's life.
ΚΠ
?a1300 Thrush & Nightingale (Digby) l. 105 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 104 (MED) Hy liuieþ in longinginge [read longinge].
a1325 Holy Cross (Corpus Cambr.) l. 36 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 168 (MED) Icham weri yliued [Ashm. ileued]; ich wilny muche mi deþ.
a1475 Visio Philiberti (Brogyntyn) in J. O. Halliwell Early Eng. Misc. (1855) 31 (MED) Thay leve in hope to have mercy and grace.
1584 E. Bunny Bk. Christian Exercise i. vi. 69 Do you live in fear, during the time of this your habitation upon earth.
1699 J. Lowde Moral Ess. 100 In all probability, he will live in a state of self condemnation all his life after.
1752 H. ap D. Price Genuine Acct. Life & Trans. xv. 247 Living in Terror of any Attempt upon her Chastity.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 17 Nov. 361 Sim Scruple..lives in a continual equipoise of Doubt.
1846 N.Y. Herald 3 Jan. 6/2 Until then, all we can do is to live in anticipation.
1893 National Observer 23 Sept. 483/1 That is a reason for living hopefully, not for ‘chucking it up’ in despair.
1914 Earl Beatty Let. 17 Nov. in W. S. Chalmers Life & Lett. (1951) 163 One has to be cheerful and encouraging to the others and binge them up to live in hope every time that this is the time.
1965 B. Friel Philadelphia, here I Come! i. 32 If this post does fall into his lap, well, her mother and I..let's say we're living in hope.
2003 Time 24 Nov. 52/3 I live in constant fear.
5. transitive with cognate object. To pass (one's life). Cf. to live one's own life at life n. Phrases 12h.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (transitive)]
leadc900
dreeOE
liveOE
traverse1477
inleadc1560
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxii. 277 Se cyning Eglippus leofode his lif on eawfæstre drohtnunge.
OE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 303 He sceal..for gode lybban hys lif rihtlice.
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 2402 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 175 (MED) Swuche men..Ne schullen nouȝt halue heore dawes libbe.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 686 Þou hast y-lyued þy lif to longe to do me such a spyte.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 10175 (MED) Sua haly lijf þai liued euer.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 40 (MED) What lyfe he lyffyd, þe treuth ys tald.
a1500 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 171 How prestis schulde lyfue [printed lyfne] a pore lif.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 72 We suld..Leif in the warld a lyfe perfyte.
1594 C. Marlowe & T. Nashe Dido iv. iii. E 3 This is no life for men at armes to liue.
1660 Bp. J. Taylor Worthy Communicant 35 To live the life of the spirit.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 530. ¶4 It shall be my Business hereafter to live the Life of an honest Man.
1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 329 I will settle a hundred a year upon her, and allow her two to spend whilst we live the life of honour together.
1856 Amer. National Preacher Jan. 11 Were we to live life over again, we should know how to live to some purpose.
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 9 Montaigne,..content to live his life, leaving many questions open.
1933 ‘E. Cambridge’ Hostages to Fortune iv. ii. 221 All Jane's set, with their ceaseless chatter about..living their own lives,..had that macabre, sullen look.
2007 Gay Times Mar. 16/1 It didn't hurt that much—I still lived a full life.
6.
a. intransitive. To continue in life; to be alive for a given period; to survive (as opposed to to die). Also with †over and in extended use.In optative subjunctive, preceding its subject: = long live ——! at Phrases 5 (obsolete). [compare Anglo-Norman vus vivez! (early 13th cent. or earlier), Middle French, French vive le roi (beginning of the 15th cent.)]
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (intransitive)] > sustain life
liveeOE
subsist1602
to struggle for existence1849
support1869
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > continue in life [verb (intransitive)]
nesteOE
to live forthOE
overliveOE
lastc1225
livec1410
survive1473
supervive1532
subsist?1533
skill1537
to live on1590
outlive1594
(to be) to the front1871
eOE (Kentish) Charter: Eadweald & Cyneðryð (Sawyer 1200) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 10 Gib Eadweald leng lifige ðonne Cyneðryð, geselle et ðem londe et Cert x ðusenda.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) i. 184 Adam..leofode nigan hund geara & þritti geara, & syððan swealt.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Gif he leng moste liuen, alse he mint to don of þe horderwycan.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. A) l. 13 He sæiþ on his bedde: ‘Wo me þet ic libbe.’
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 128 Ah lut ȝer he leouede [c1300 Otho liuede].
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 7823 (MED) He..bihet, ȝif he moste libbe, þat he nolde misdo nammore.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vii. l. 16 I schal leue hem lyflode..As longe as I liue.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 94 If þei ben not curid, þei lyuen þe lengere tyme.
c1410 tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 141 Alfridus forsoþe after his blyndynge sent unto Hely liffed over but fewe dayes.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. lxv And thenne all the peple cryed viuat Rex lyue the kynge.
a1500 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Douce) l. 259 Þou shal leve but a stert.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cxxxv Criyng: sainct Denise, liue kyng Charles.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 7 Not suffring a Tree to liue the tenth part of his age.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 153 Harme him [sc. a frog] as little as you may possibly, that he may live the longer. View more context for this quotation
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity Pref., in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) And in this kind Mr. Philips, had he lived, would have excelled.
1743 J. Bulkeley & J. Cummins Voy. to South-seas 34 If he lives, I will carry him a Prisoner to the Commodore.
1776 Trial Maha Rajah Nundocomar for Forgery 32/2 I should not have supposed he could live many hours.
1813 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 26 685 A great statesman..had once exclaimed, ‘Perish commerce—live the constitution!’
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) II. 270 To the use of A. for 99 years, if he should so long live.
1842 Penny Mag. June 248/1 He is very sick, and I fear me he will not live past tomorrow in the morning.
1881 Times 20 Jan. 10/5 The driver of the engine and plough..is so seriously injured that he is not expected to live.
1935 C. Odets Awake & Sing! in Six Plays (1939) 46 He should live so long your Mr. Wimmer.
1953 H. Mellanby Animal Life in Fresh Water (ed. 5) xii. 254 The statoblasts live over the winter in a dormant condition, and germinate in spring to start new colonies.
1986 Maclean's (Nexis) 17 Mar. 12 a You look at children and you know there is not a chance they will live.
2001 N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 225 All those innocent people he would've gone on to kill had we let im live.
b. intransitive. Theology. Of God, the soul, etc.: to exist without the possibility of death; to have eternal life, esp. in heaven.Frequently with clarifying adverb or adverbial phrase, as after death, forever, etc.
ΚΠ
eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) xviii. 45 [Hu ne] witon we þæt ealle me[n] lichom[lice] sweltað, & þeah sio sawl bið libb [ende]?
OE Blickling Homilies 131 Þurh Godes fultum, þe lyfað & rixað a butan ende.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 23 And alle men shullen cume to libben echeliche.
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (1973) l. 1754 (MED) Þet leadeð to liue, þer as me liueð aa [v.r. ai] in blisse.
a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) 218 (MED) Crist worþ wiþouten ende and lyue shal eueremo.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 197 (MED) Manis soule schal neuere deie but lyue for euere more.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 37 (MED) Swa sal he..mak endyng Of alle þing bot..of man and fende and aungelle, Þat aftir þis lyfe sal lyf ay.
1447 O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (1835) 77 I wold wet what it may þe auayle To forsakyn þe goddys wych leuyn [printed lenyn] ay.
1565 B. Googe tr. ‘M. Palingenius’ Zodiake of Life (new ed.) sig. Bb.i Therefore the soule liues after graue, and feeles deserued paynes.
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies v. vii. 345 The Indians of Peru beleeved commonly that the Soules lived after this life.
a1748 I. Watts in T. Belknap Sacred Poetry (1820) 126 That we may act the wiser part, And live beyond the grave.
1876 S. Lanier Florida iv. 73 Will that fox-squirrel live after death?
1930 Jrnl. Relig. 10 6 Christians have always looked to live after death.
2007 Roanoake (Va.) Times (Nexis) 10 July b3 Her family and friends adored her but now give thanks that she will live forever in Heaven.
c. intransitive. Theology. To have spiritual life; to be free from spiritual condemnation or death. to live in Christ (also God, etc.): to have spiritual life by the grace or redemptive action of Christ, God, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > [verb (intransitive)] > of soul: live
liveOE
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 272 God cwæð þæt he nolde þæs synfullan deað, ac he wile swyðor þæt he gecyrre fram his synnum and libbe [L. ut revertatur impius a via sua et vivat].
OE Wærferð tr. Gregory Dialogues (Corpus Cambr.) (1900) iv. xlvii. 336 Twam gemetum þæs mannes lif is gesæd... Oþer is witodlice, þæt we in Gode lifiað [L. quod in Deo vivimus], oþer is, þæt we in þissere worulde lifiað.
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 346 (MED) I wil not þe deeþ of a synner, but I wil þat he be turnyd & lyue.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 99 Lern..to lufe þi makar, if þou desyre to lyfe qwhen þou hens passys.
c1480 (a1400) St. Mary Magdalen 15 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 256 Þe ded of synful I na wil bot þat he leife his syn & lif.
1546 S. Gardiner Declar. True Articles f. xxviii And when soeuer a synner wayleth his synnes, he shall lyue.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace ii. 30 The Spirit must therefore first take hold of us, before we can live in Christ.
1735 J. Emerson Meat out of Eater 6 How Sin may be condemn'd and punish'd, and yet the Sinner live and be Sav'd.
a1784 H. Alline Hymns & Spiritual Songs (1802) 82 Yet even now he will forgive, O sinner! hear his voice and live.
1855 H. M. Johnson Poems 37 Not mine the power to bid the sinner live.
1907 Biblical World 30 119 Only in the warmth of God's love..can the pardoned sinner live and grow and conquer.
1960 T. Merton Spiritual Direct. & Medit. 63 The redemptive power of the Cross and the grace of the resurrection, which enables us to live in God.
2006 B. J. Daugherty Death is not End 9 He paid the wages of sin for mankind. He died so you might live!
d. intransitive. With infinitive. To survive long enough to be or to do something.See also to live to fight another day at Phrases 11b.
ΚΠ
1586 in T. Hearne Chron. Robert of Gloucester (1724) 675/2 I am so unhappy to haue lyuen to see this unhappy daye.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. ii. 167 Hath Cassius liu'd To be but Mirth and Laughter to his Brutus? View more context for this quotation
1680 R. L'Estrange tr. Erasmus 20 Select Colloquies xiv. 200 If I live to come back again.
1714 F. Atterbury Eng. Advice to Freeholders of Eng. 29 The present Age may live to regret Her Loss.
1795 W. Belsham Mem. Reign George III IV. 361 Some of us may live to see a reverse of that picture from which we now turn our eyes with shame and regret.
1893 Academy 13 May 412/1 Lord Carnarvon did not live to put the final touches to his translation.
1963 Times 13 Feb. 11/1 I never thought that I would live to see the day that our public conduct and sportsmanship would reach such a deplorably low state.
2004 L. Erdrich Four Souls (2005) xv. 191 He would live to be a hundred, probably, people said.
e. intransitive. figurative. Of things: to continue to exist or operate; to survive, endure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > have duration [verb (intransitive)] > endure, remain, persist, or continue
bidec893
lastOE
through-wonOE
ylasta1000
standOE
runOE
lastlOE
beleavec1200
abidec1275
cleavec1275
durec1275
dwell13..
endurec1386
perseverec1390
continuec1400
contunec1400
tarrya1450
remainc1455
perdure?a1475
rest1474
permanec1485
succeed1486
perpetuate1530
persist1531
demur1547
perduratea1558
weara1568
to hold it out1585
to hold out1585
abye1590
contain1592
live1592
perennate1623
to draw overa1700
exist1754
linger1764
to hang it out1939
1592 W. Wyrley Capitall de Buz in True Vse Armorie 143 Braue honor liues maulgree so wicked wight.
c1751 T. Gray Elegy xxiii, in Poems (1768) 117 E'en in our Ashes live their wonted Fires.
1863 T. Woolner My Beautiful Lady 38 Nothing lives but perfect Love.
1896 Athenæum 24 Apr. 547/2 Blunders of this sort live long.
2004 K. W. Ford Quantum World (2005) vi. 120 A neighboring nucleus may have long since exploded, or it may continue to live a long time.
7. intransitive. To be permanently commemorated; to escape obliteration or oblivion. Frequently with in (a medium or cause of remembrance).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > fame after death > become famous after death [verb (intransitive)] > continue in people's memory
liveeOE
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) v. viii. 406 Bi ðam..mæg cweðan, þæt heora lichoman in sibbe bebyrgde siondon, & hiora noma leofað wide ferh in ecnesse [L. nomen eorum vivet in generationes et generationes].
1554 Bp. T. Watson Twoo Notable Serm. sig. T.vi The sacrifice of this redemption should neuer cease, but be alwayes to all men present in grace, and alwayes lyue in perpetuall memorye.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Feb. f. 7v Chaucer, whose prayse for pleasaunt tales cannot dye, so long as the memorie of hys name shal liue.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iv. ii. 45 Mens euill manners, liue in Brasse, their Vertues We write in Water. View more context for this quotation
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 56 Let..the temples be graced with such sights; worke them out in ivorie; let them live in colours.
1688 M. Prior To C'tess of Exeter 13 Eliza's glory lives in Spenser's song.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 483 A fancied kind of being to retrieve, And in a book, or from a building live.
a1748 I. Watts Improvem. Mind in Wks. (1813) VIII. xvii. 131 That which strikes the eye Lives long upon the mind.
1800–24 T. Campbell Hallowed Ground vi To live in hearts we leave behind, Is not to die.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 131 One noble passage still lives, and is repeated by thousands who know not whence it comes.
a1873 W. C. Macready Reminisc. (1875) I. 94 Cooke's representation of the part..lived in my memory in all its sturdy vigour.
1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. viii. 21 So would he..give me those kind looks which live in me.
1917 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Criminal Law & Criminol. 8 690 The stimuli live in the memory, where they have become associated with many elements of the environment.
1934 W. C. Graham Prophets & Israel's Culture vi. 74 The prophets live in the hearts of men.
1941 F. D. Roosevelt Speech in Congress 8 Dec. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Digital Archives) Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
1975 Biogr. Mem. (U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci.) 106 His legacy is an amazing collection of..ideas that will live in the annals of vertebrate studies for many years to come.
2007 Mirror (Nexis) 25 July 9 His name will live forever in the chronicles of rock.
8.
a. intransitive. To make one's home, have one's abode, dwell, reside. Usually with adverbial phrase indicating the place or other inhabitants. Also (colloquial) in extended use of things: to be situated, to have their place.In quot. 1815 with noun complement.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (intransitive)]
wonc725
erdec893
siteOE
liveeOE
to make one's woningc960
through-wonOE
bigc1175
walkc1225
inwonea1300
lenda1300
lenga1300
lingera1300
erthec1300
stallc1315
lasta1325
lodge1362
habit?a1366
breeda1375
inhabitc1374
indwella1382
to have one's mansionc1385
to take (up) one's inn (or inns)a1400
keepc1400
repairc1400
to have (also hold, keep, make) one's residencec1405
to hold (also keep, make, take, etc.) one's mansiona1425
winc1425
to make (one's) residence1433
resort1453
abidec1475
use1488
remaina1500
demur1523
to keep one's house1523
occupy1523
reside1523
enerdc1540
kennel1552
bower1596
to have (also hold, keep, make) residence1597
subsist1618
mansiona1638
tenant1650
fastena1657
hospitate1681
wont1692
stay1754
to hang out1811
home1832
habitate1866
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (transitive)] > together
cohabit1714
live1815
eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. xix. 244 He..þam cynnum Scotta & Peohta, in þæm he in ellþeodignesse lifde,..swiðe bricsade.
OE Genesis A (1931) 1940 He [sc. Lot] þære mægðe monwisan fleah, þeah þe he on þam lande lifian sceolde.
c1175 ( Ælfric's Homily on Nativity of Christ (Bodl. 343) in A. O. Belfour 12th Cent. Homilies in MS Bodl. 343 (1909) 82 Englæs..libbæð on heofene.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3108 We wulleð..þe leofuen [c1300 Otho lofuie] wið a to ure liue.
a1300 (c1275) Physiologus (1991) l. 354 Ðis fis wuneð wið ðe se-grund & liueð ðer eure heil & sund.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) viii. l. 396 Decivs..Lyued in desert ferr out in wildirnesse.
c1450 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 249 That haiit lywith in Lowthe many longe days.
1508 W. Dunbar Ballade Barnard Stewart in Poems (1998) I. 178 Welcum, therfor, abufe all livand leyd, Withe vs to liue and to maik recidence.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 22v He is not where he liues, but wher he loues.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. iii. 73 Here liued I, but now liue here no more. View more context for this quotation
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. iv. §2 It was their office to teach the people, and therefore it was necessary they should live among them.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xiv. 283 The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour: though he live next dore to a graceless Nobleman.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 49. ⁋4 The Coffee-house is the Place of Rendezvous to all that live near it.
1815 Ann. Reg., Chron. 49 The family, with whom she lived servant.
1895 Law Times 100 133/2 The deceased lived in a cottage near the up side of the railway line.
a1916 H. James Sense of Past (1917) iv. iii. 242 A pot of about the size..of that one..with something or other on the cabinet or wherever, the place where it ‘lives’, as we say.
1925 Geogr. Jrnl. 65 325 Such corals as do live here must possess a very efficient apparatus for sweeping clear their surfaces.
1958 J. Cannan And be Villain i. 37 I couldn't find any brandy. Do you know where it lives?
1960 Guardian 24 Feb. 12/5 Comparatively few people have really lived in modern, open-planned houses.
1990 Amer. Zool. 30 731/2 A few species live in fresh water.
2008 Sunday Times (Nexis) 23 Mar. (News Review section) 4 She was never going to live in a house as nice as the ones we grew up in.
b. intransitive. figurative. (In early use particularly recorded in religious contexts.)
ΚΠ
OE tr. Defensor Liber Scintillarum (1969) xxi. 170 Augustinus dixit si uere est quod in te deus uiuit fornicatio in te mortua est : sæde gif soðlice ys þæt on þe god leofað forligr on þe dead ys.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 259 God liueð [a1250 Titus liues] inhire heorte..crist liueð [a1300 Caius liued] in me.
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Nero) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 202 Ich liuiee, nout ich, auh crist liueð in me.
a1400 Ancrene Riwle (Pepys) (1976) 166 Jn þis man oiþer womman liueþ god.
a1425 (a1400) Titus & Vespasian l. 518 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1903) 111 294 (MED) He clansed men of yvels and of synne Wiþ his worde, þat lyueþ him ynne.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xvii. 50 Lord lifes in my hert.
?1605 J. Davies Wittes Pilgrimage sig. E1 Art thou turnd Salamander in desire To liue in my Harts flames and feel no fire?
1708 N. Rowe Royal Convert ii. i. 17 The Secret of your Love lives with me only.
1857 E. B. Pusey Real Presence (1896) i. 4 The Fathers, among whom, for these last twenty years, I have lived, as in my home.
1953 C. D. Broad Relig., Philos. & Psychical Res. iii. 284 A majority of the English wage-drawers still live in Cloud-Cuckoo Land.
2007 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 23 July 18 While it's fine to spend your life living in jeans, sometimes a girl's just got to get all dressed up.
9. intransitive. With infinitive. To exist solely or principally to do something; to have something as the main object of one's life. Chiefly in weakened sense. Frequently in proverbial phrases contrasted with sense 2a, as to live to eat, to eat to live, etc.
ΚΠ
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 281 Socrates seide þat meny men wil leve [L. vivere] forto ete and drynke, and þat þey wolde ete and drynke and [þat] forto lyve [L. viveret].
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 22v I lyue to serue the and am ready to dye to do the pleasure.
1672 T. Shadwell Miser 46 Eat to live, not live to eat; as the Proverb says.
1719 M. Shelton Hist. & Crit. Ess. Rise Nobility (ed. 2) v. 422 The English Man's Case was not to Live to Fight, but to Fight to Live.
1877 P. J. Bailey Festus (ed. 10) xxvi. 449 The passionate lands where women live to love.
1912 A. W. Pinero Preserving Mr. Panmure ii. 5 I shall eat sufficient...But I eat to live; I don't live to eat.
2007 Courier Mail (Austral.) (Nexis) 14 Nov. 48 It's just up the road, it's a great job and it means I can work to live rather than live to work.
10. transitive. To express (something) in one's life; to carry out in one's life the principles of (something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > way of life > follow (a way of life) [verb (transitive)] > express in one's life
live1537
1537 M. Coverdale tr. Goodly Treat. Faith f. 2 Yf we dyd take once hartye grace to vs and busyed oure selues to lyue the Gospel, than shuld not we need to be asked a counte of our fayth.
1542 T. Becon Potacion for Lent sig. L.vjv Not only loue but also lyue ye Gospel.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State ii. ix. 81 Our Minister lives Sermons.
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Lev. xix. 37) 155 Words not so much to bee read as lived.
1673 J. Flavell Fountain of Life ix. 110 He Preacht the Doctrine, and lived the Application.
a1708 W. Beveridge Thes. Theologicus (1711) III. 147 Hereby you may be sure to live heaven upon earth in time.
a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) IV. i. 3 To say who is the Lord..is to deny God..and live a lie.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 70 To live poetry, indeed, is always better than to write it.
1970 G. Scott-Heron Vulture i. 8 He was one of the top men in the drug game in the Bronx and Manhattan. Of course, I knew that there might easily be a hundred or more top men, but this guy really lived the part.
1971 B. Sidran Black Talk i. 34 As Charles Parker..has said, ‘Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.’
1994 P. Baker Blood Posse xxv. 284 Now I have all this and it doesn't seem real. I'm living a lie.
1995 New Scientist 11 Mar. 46/1 Today, in our downsized and benefits-realised world, we live the dream through coffee-table books.
11.
a. intransitive. Nautical. Chiefly of a vessel: to escape destruction; to remain afloat. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > action or motion of vessel > [verb (intransitive)] > sustain a storm or danger
live1589
ridea1649
to make good, bad, etc. weather of it1669
busk1713
to busk it out1744
1589 R. Clarke in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations iii. 700 Wee sawe it pleased God our boate liued in the Sea.
1615 A. Stafford Heavenly Dogge To Rdr. 17 There are Coltes who will venture to row in waters wherein (to use the sea~faring phrase) they cannot liue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) i. ii. 13 I saw your brother..binde himselfe..To a strong Maste, that liu'd vpon the sea. View more context for this quotation
1694 Narbrough's Acct. Several Late Voy. 190 It was impossible for the Boat to live any longer in that Sea.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §142 Carrying out the King's Mooring Barges so far to sea, where they could not live but in fine weather.
1838 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 145 A ferocious hurricane..so that nothing could ‘live’ afloat.
1854 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (1858) 15 I have seen a boat live in as bad a night as this.
1902 N.Y. Times 29 Oct. 2/6 Very few, if any vessels will be able to live on the ocean.
1994 P. C. Bolger Boats with Open Mind xxxvi. 185 The high-sided boat will live in a very wicked sea.
b. intransitive. Baseball. Of a runner: to avoid being put out. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1901 Washington Post 23 June 8/3 Only four Brewers lived to reach first base, and only one of those was able to boast of having landed triumphantly on second.
1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch xii. 263 He would probably have scored the run which would have won the game had he lived either on second or third base, for a hit followed.
1957 Winona (Minnesota) Daily News 29 May 15/1 With two out, Butch Lawing lived on first base via an error on Loach at shortstop.
12. intransitive. In an emphatic sense: to experience life fully; to enjoy or make the most of one's life.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > be joyful or delighted [verb (intransitive)] > have joy of living
live1606
1606 J. Day Ile of Guls sig. H4v They trewly liue, that liue in scorne of spight.
a1628 J. Preston Breast-plate of Faith (1631) 194 One man may live more in a day than another in twenty.
1673 T. Shadwell Epsom-Wells ii. i. 19 I have vow'd to spend all my life in London... People do really live no where else.
1726–31 N. Tindal tr. P. Rapin de Thoyras Hist. Eng. (1743) II. xvii. 129 Well might I breathe but never think I lived.
1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xxix. 31 While you are making the choice of life, you neglect to live.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. xlv. 179 Our wasted frames feel the true sun, and live.
1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists v. 252 He was living up to the last days of his life.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms III. vii. 94 Jack Dawson..didn't care about anything but horses and dogs, and lived every day of his life.
1988 E. L. Doctorow in N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 11 Dec. 39/2 It was Jack London's capacity for really living in the world..that made him our first writer-hero.
1998 P. McCabe Breakfast on Pluto (1999) x. 38 Let's live a little first.
1999 N.Y. Times 7 Feb. v. 26 (advt.) You haven't really lived until you've experienced Acapulco.
13. Originally Hunting.
a. transitive. To keep up (the pace).
ΚΠ
1840 Fraser's Mag. 22 681 We whip and spur, but cannot live the pace.
1908 Daily Chron. 14 July 8/1 The Italian, however, could not live it with the gallant finish of the Britain.
b. intransitive. To keep pace with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > move at specific rate [verb (intransitive)] > keep pace with
coast1413
to keep (also hold) pace1583
live1898
1898 St. James's Gaz. 15 Nov. 6/1 The check..was most welcome to the contingent who still lived with hounds.
1995 Racing Post 14 July 24/3 She has the early pace to live with the front-runners.

Phrases

P1. to live well: (a) to live a virtuous life; (b) to be in comfortable circumstances; (c) to have abundance, to feed luxuriously. Cf. well adv. 7b.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [verb (intransitive)] > lead a virtuous life
to live welleOE
to live up1665
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > luxury or luxurious living > luxuriate [verb (intransitive)] > live luxuriously
to live wella1375
to live like a lord1532
epicurize1600
to live (or be) in clover1710
to live like fighting cocks1795
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxviii. 193 Ne ðynce him no genog ðæt he ana wel libbe, buton eac ða ðe he fore beon sceal from ðære slæwðe his synna atio.
lOE tr. Alcuin De Virtutibus et Vitiis (Vesp.) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 92 Soðlice se byð gesælig, þe on riht leofeð, & wel libbende þone fulfremede geleafe healdeð.
?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 123 Whan he weniþ liuie wel, Mid deþ adun fal he schel.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 5394 Þus was þe kowherd out of kare kindeli holpen,..wel to liuen for euer.
1481 tr. Cicero De Senectute (Caxton) sig. b3 Olde age..fyndyth in it self all the goodnesses whch longen to liue wel & blyssidly.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 612/2 I shal lyue well ynoughe without you.
1577 S. Batman Golden Bk. Leaden Goddes f. 19 By the threedes, mans life is signifyed, forwarning euerye estate to lyve well.
1604 T. Hall Two Guides Good Life sig. B5 Contemplatiue, which containeth the knowledge of God and his works, and morrall, which teacheth vs howe to liue well.
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote III. xx. 141 He preaches well that lives well, quoth Sancho, and I know no other Preaching.
1708 E. Ward Mod. World Disrob'd ii. 160 Live well on Earth, no Pleasures spare, When Inclination offers.
1796 S. Pegge Anonymiana (1809) 64 If you would live well for a week, kill a hog; if you would live well for a month, marry; if you would live well all your life, turn priest.
1826 S. Cooper First Lines Pract. Surg. (ed. 5) i. viii. 68 Carbuncles seem..most common in persons who have lived well.
1892 G. L. James Shall I try Australia? 116 I have heard many declare that they can live well for 7s. weekly.
1970 R. Thorp & R. Blake Music of their Laughter 13/2 I don't know what he does or how much he makes, but it must be a lot because we live well.
1991 S. Broadie Ethics with Aristotle ii. 117 There are no definite rules about how to act and how to live well.
2003 Budget Living Apr. 125/2 They are still extremely frugal, but they also know how to work it, and how to live well.
P2. to live and look: see look v. 1a(b).
P3. to live dangerously: to live with little regard for one's safety; to take risks habitually; now frequently in weakened sense. rare before 20th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > face danger [verb (intransitive)] > habitually
to live dangerously1930
1577 J. Northbrooke tr. St. Thomas Aquinas in Spiritus est Vicarius Christi in Terra 32 They that haue no exercise, eyther of office, studie, or reading, these liue daungerously that liue ydellye.
a1622 N. Byfield Comm. 2nd Chapter of 1st Epist. St. Peter (1623) 466 Hee liues dangerously, that liues securely: we must take a diligent view of our owne naturall dispositions.
1930 A. Henderson Contemp. Immortals 78 The numerous attempts at assassination give point to Mussolini's avowed motto, after Nietzsche: ‘To live dangerously!’
1939 F. S. Fitzgerald Let. 7 Oct. (1964) 407 I have ‘lived dangerously’ and I may quite possibly have to pay for it.
1962 Listener 9 Aug. 226/1 The spectators in the Bridgearama theatre saw the British pair..living dangerously.
1969 Outdoor Life Mar. 88/2 To fish the stream when the water is running full pipe is to live dangerously.
2007 Palm Beach (Florida) Post (Nexis) 31 Dec. 1 d Strongly in favor of briefs, I decided to live dangerously and try boxers for a while.
P4.
a. to live and breathe and variants: to be alive; to exist.
ΚΠ
1592 G. Babington Certaine Comfortable Notes Genesis (ii.) f. 9 For before euer hee would haue anye of vs to lyue and breathe in this world, wee see, had hee not prouided..whatsoeuer might bee needefull for vs?
1615 H. Finch Expos. Song of Solomon (new ed.) (ii. 7) 18 She liues and breaths in him thorough that sweet and happy coniunction shee hath with her head.
1708 M. Hole Pract. Expos. Church-catechism 511 The Prince's Honor is the Peoples Safety..; the Commonwealth lives and breathes in him.
1867 F. B. Carpenter Inner Life Abraham Lincoln lxxix. 340 Mr. Lincoln first lived and breathed upon the world from his head and conscience.
1968 E. Humphreys in A. Richards Penguin Bk. Welsh Short Stories (1976) 332 During their working hours they lived and breathed together in a rare partnership of understanding and love.
1999 M. Imperioli From Where to Eternity (HBO TV shooting script) 9 in Sopranos 2nd Ser. (O.E.D. Archive) This is where the big guns live and breathe...I'm talking retro-virus. Legionnaire's, Ebola, and the Face-Eating virus; this is I.C.U.
b. as I live (and breathe): used to express emphatic affirmation of the truth of something; later frequently also expressing surprise at an event or situation; cf. as conj. 13.
ΚΠ
1592 Arden of Feversham iv. iv. 26 As surely as I liue, Ile banish pittie if thou vse me thus.]
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor iv. v. sig. Nivv Sog. Farewell good Resolution, but faile not to meet. Shift. As I liue.
a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Dd3/1 O my meiching varlet, I'le fit ye as I live.
1668 J. Dryden Sr Martin Mar-all v. 56 As I live and breathe, this is pleasant.
1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. xii. 118 But as I live, yonder comes Moses, without an horse, and the box at his back.
1785 A. M. Bennett Anna IV. lxxxviii. 168 Good heavens!.. As I live and breathe there is Anna's old swain.
1841 C. G. F. Gore Cecil III. iv. 84 As I live and breathe, the fellow looked me full in the face and cut me dead!
1882 Ballou's Monthly Mag. July 54/1 Their baggage has already arrived, and O dear! what shall I do with it all? Nine great Saratogas, as I live.
1922 Harper's Mag. Mar. 530/2 ‘As I live, Brew's going stepping,’ he commented, surveying the newcomer in the doorway.
1987 ‘B. Vine’ Fatal Inversion (BNC) 36 Good God, Wyvis Hall, as I live and breathe.
2004 T. Wolfe I am Charlotte Simmons iii. 72 Well, as I live and breathe... Whirred you folks git that? I don't mean to pry.
c. colloquial. to live and breathe (something) and variants: to be utterly absorbed or consumed by (a subject, activity, etc.).
ΚΠ
1859 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) II. iv. 244 We now live and breathe politics, and questions of peace and war.
1907 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 1 Sept. 10/1 This clever actress lives and breathes each individual she portrays.
1944 U. Sinclair Presidential Agent i. ii. 43 Robbie Budd lived and breathed and ate and talked aeroplanes.
2006 Independent 12 Apr. (Property section) 23/4 He lived and breathed his job.
P5. long live ——!: an acclamation wishing long life and prosperity upon (a person, esp. a ruler) (cf. sense 6a and vivat int.); also in extended use. The king is dead. Long live the king! [after French Le Roi est mort. Vive le Roi!, supposedly announced upon the death of King Charles VI of France and the accession of his son Charles VII in 1422] : used to imply continuity through a period of change.
ΚΠ
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. J. Bertaut Parl. Vertues Royall in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Divine Weekes & Workes (1621) 862 Long live the Story Of valiant Princes in the Fane of Glory.
1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 253 Now let us sing, Long live the king! And Gilpin, long live he!
1835 L. Ritchie Wanderings by Seine (new ed.) xi. 143 ‘The king is dead!’ After a pause of deep and awful silence, the same voice proclaimed—‘Long live the king!’
1845 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 58 173 a Long live the railway mania!
1869 Sydney Punch 13 Mar. 129/2 Let's come now, boys, and ‘do a beer’, Long Live the Queen.
1940 Music Educators Jrnl. 27 75/1 Long live the Journal, and the Conference organization as a whole!
1953 Times 29 May 3/3 At roof level hang scrolls reading ‘Long live the Queen,’ and from them fall white and red banners of the City arms.
1981 Washington Post (Nexis) 21 Dec. b1 When he left, a lot of people thought: The king is dead. Long live the king. But it wasn't like that.
2008 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 13 Mar. 19 Two days of protests led by hundreds of monks shouting ‘Independence for Tibet’ and ‘Long live the Dalai Lama’ were broken up by thousands of police.
P6. to live and learn: to learn from experience.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > knowledge, what is known > experience > have experience of [verb (intransitive)]
wita1400
to pass through ——c1400
to live and learnc1620
1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 1261/1 That they maye liue and learne the like, And passe their time in peace.]
c1620 in Roxburghe Ballads (Ballad Soc.) (1871) I. 60 A man may liue and learne.
1701 T. D'Urfey Bath ii. i. 11 Well, one may live and learn I zee.
1803 M. Wilmot Let. 6 Aug. in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 32 Humph! thinks I. One must live and learn.
1849 C. Dickens David Copperfield (1850) xx. 208 Live and learn. I had my doubts, I confess, but now they're cleared up.
1957 A. Huxley Let. 12 Dec. (1969) 836 Problems which I have been trying to solve for the last four months, without any success; for they are, so far as I can see, insoluble. So there we are. One lives and learns.
2006 T. Schlesinger Five Flights Up 40/2 I spent all my money on this lizard. I think you live and learn.
P7. to live and let live [compare Dutch leven en laten leven (1604)] : to coexist peacefully; to accommodate mutual differences; also as a proverb.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > lack of subjection > permission > [phrase] > live and let live
to live and let live1622
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from action [verb (intransitive)] > refrain from interfering > in other people's lives
to live and let live1622
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 229 According to the Dutch Prouerbe..Leuen ende laeten leuen, To liue and to let others liue.
1687 R. L'Estrange Answer to Let. to Dissenter 43 And what's the Whole Bus'ness at last; but Live, and let Live.
1705 J. Hodges War betwixt Two Brit. Kingdoms 96 Otherways it will unquestionably be the constant Resolution, as well as Interest of Scotland, To Live and Let Live.
1762 T. Smollett Adventures Sir Launcelot Greaves II. xvi. 77 You knows, master, one must live, and let live, as the saying is.
1853 T. C. Haliburton Sam Slick's Wise Saws II. xii. 300 Give and take, live and let live, that's the word.
1975 J. Aiken Voices in Empty House vi. 161 It takes all sorts, as I always say. Live and let live.
2002 A. Proulx That Old Ace in Hole (2003) xii. 138 He didn't much care for the two nancy boys who had lately come up from Dallas, but he was willing to live and let live.
P8. to live free or die: to secure or preserve freedom, or die in the attempt. Used esp. as an oath or slogan to express strong support for (and sometimes literally willingness to die for) the cause of liberty or independence. Now chiefly U.S.In 1945 live free or die was adopted as New Hampshire's official state motto.
ΚΠ
1594 T. Kyd tr. R. Garnier Cornelia iv. sig. I.4v Braue Romains know, this is the day and houre, That we must all liue free, or friendly die.]
1624 E. Bolton Nero Caesar xii. 118/2 It is certainlie her last resolution, either to liue free, or die.
1703 tr. A. de Ovalle Hist. Relation Chile v. xviii. 144/2 Drive away all Fear, generous Soldiers, and either live free or die.
1792 Times 13 July 2/4 The whole Assembly swore—‘To live free or die.’
1809 J. Stark Let. 31 July in C. Stark Mem. & Official Corr. Gen. John Stark (1860) 313 Live free, or die—Death is not the worst of evils.
1953 Portsmouth (New Hampsh.) Herald 20 Jan. 10/1 The state's float, with a banner reading ‘Live Free or Die’.
2001 L. Hurbon in A. Lampe Christianity in Caribbean iv. 154 It was not sufficient to cry ‘Live free or die’ or take the oath of an ‘eternal hatred of France’.
P9.
a. those who live by the sword, die by the sword and variants: those who lead a violent life are likely to suffer a violent death. Also in weakened use, indicating that a particular action, way of life, etc., carries risks or (dangerous) consequences. Cf. to live by —— at Phrasal verbs 2. [In allusion to Matthew 26:52: ‘Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword’ (King James Bible).]
ΚΠ
1640 F. Knight Relation Seaven Yeares Slaverie 39 They say they rose by the sword, they live by the sword, and they shall end and perish by the sword.
1804 G. Morris Let. 25 Oct. in J. Sparks Life G. Morris III. 213 I know..that to quote the text, ‘those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword’, will not..be considered as a sufficient proof of any worldly propositions.
1858 H. C. Carey Princ. Social Sci. ix. 246 Carthage passed from existence, leaving behind nothing but the further proof afforded by its history, of the truth of the proposition, that ‘those who live by the sword must die by the sword’.
1919 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 6 Apr. For if the league of nations would live by the sword, surely it will die by the sword. Its only hope is economic international justice.
1967 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Post 23 Oct. 48/3 These are political appointments, they live by the sword and die by the sword.
2001 D. K. Simonton in O. Feldman & L. O. Valenty Profiling Polit. Leaders vi. 104 The second finding is evidence for the biblical warning ‘He who lives by the sword dies by the sword’. Those who obtained the throne by violent means were more likely to leave it in the same manner.
b. Hence in various phrases in which sword is replaced by another noun, indicating that having the specified thing as a guiding principle or way of life carries risks or (dangerous) consequences.
ΚΠ
1847 G. Spring Bible not of Man x. 293 Those who live by the Bible, can die by the Bible.
1929 Amarillo (Texas) Globe 10 July 8/6 The burglar..has a fixed superstition that ‘they who live by the gun shall die by the gun’.
1975 Business Week (Nexis) 13 Oct. 23 It is now obvious that not only individuals but also countries that live by gold can die by gold.
1990 Washington Times (Nexis) 29 May b1 You live by the gun, you die by the gun. You live by the drugs, you die by the drugs.
1992 N. J. Wheeler & K. Booth in J. Baylis & N. J. Reggner Dilemma World Politics i. 42 Those who live by the worst-case forecast may die by the worst-case forecast.
†P10. to live in (also within) oneself: to keep one's own company or counsel; to rely upon oneself for occupation and diversion. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > lack of social communications or relations [verb (intransitive)]
to keep quarterc1550
uncompane1589
to have nothing to say to (also with)1603
to live in (also within) oneself1644
to keep oneself to oneself1748
to fight shy1778
to cultivate one's (own) garden1789
to hoe one's own row1832
1644 D. Buchanan in J. Knox Wks. (1848) II. 467 To shew..how little he did live to himselfe, he brought out of the intrals of actions many choise..secrets.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Coll. Several Tracts (1727) 293 They live to and within themselves.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting II. ii. 72 Living much within himself,..his chief amusement was his collection.
1872 J. L. Sanford Estimates Eng. Kings: Charles I 333 His mind had been prepared for the application of these lessons by that early necessity of living very much in himself.
P11.
a. Proverb. he who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day and variants. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 335v That same manne, that renneth awaye, Maye again fight, an other daye.]
1711 C. L. H. Villars Noise about Nothing 1 Should Marlborough..from his army run away, to live to fight another day.
1809 Rambler's Mag. 4 Jan. 2 Unlike those heroes Who fight, and run away, And live to fight another day.
1905 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 5 852 The Panama officer..believed that ‘He who runs away will live to fight another day.’
2003 Sunday Express (Nexis) 7 Dec. 41 Presumably he [sc. the Prime Minister] is working on the basis that he who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day.
b. to live to fight another day: to survive a battle or (in extended use) a dangerous or unpleasant experience. Also figurative.
ΚΠ
1711 W. King Vindic. Reverend Dr. Sacheverell 89 The General does not cashier his Soldier after the first Battle, but intends with Hudibras, that he shall live to fight another Day.
1848 J. G. Cumming Isle of Man viii. 108 He who leapt that precipice would never have lived to fight another day.
1887 Life 18 Aug. 2/2 Civil-service reform that lives to fight another day is in a more hopeful state than the sort that makes a desperate assault and gets squashed out of existence.
1943 Times 3 Apr. 4/2 The enemy suffered heavy loss, but the main body lives to fight another day.
1999 New Republic 6 Dec. 23/1 Clinton spent the next two years playing..with Newt Gingrich in hopes of living to fight another day.
c. Hence (sometimes humorously) with other verbs, in to live to —— another day.Sometimes (esp. in early use) in adaptations of the proverb at Phrases 11a.
ΚΠ
1762 St. James's Mag. Oct. 116 Haply I chanc'd to run away, And live to run another day.
1827 Sporting Mag. Feb. 244/1 A young Skylark, which I trust will live to fly and soar another day.
1838 A. Thomason Men & Things in Amer. xiii. 209 He who..‘Talks and walks away, May live to talk another day.’
1908 Boston Daily Globe 6 May 16/2 (headline) Will live to love another day.
2001 L. Rennison Knocked out by Nunga-nungas 66 Angus lives to polish his trombone another day.
P12. to live to regret (something): to come to wish that one had not done or said (something).
ΚΠ
1714 F. Atterbury Eng. Advice to Freeholders 29 Perhaps the present Age may live to regret Her Loss.
1820 Times 18 Mar. 2/3 He..would venture to predict that that person would not live to regret it.
1905 F. Harrison Chatham iii. 43 Pitt lived to regret some of the violent things he had said.
2004 Radio Times 3 July (Midlands ed.) 45/4 Broderick..lives to regret both his attempts to derail Tracy..and a fumbled affair.
P13. to live to tell the tale: see tell v. Phrases 1c.
P14. Originally U.S. to live fast and die young and (elaborated) variants: to live a reckless, dangerous, or hedonistic life, and (because of this) die at an early age. Also used as a slogan advocating a hedonistic or carefree lifestyle. Cf. fast adv. and int. Phrases 2b(b).
ΚΠ
1844 New World 15 June 755/2 At the end of the year they had fine clothes, fine hats, and powdered heads... They, having lived fast, all died young.
1920 Modesto (Calif.) Evening News 25 Aug. 1/6 I intend to live a fast life, die young and be a beautiful corpse.
1925 U. Sinclair Mamonart lxxxii. 260 One of those beautiful leisure-class youths who live fast and die young.
1948 Jrnl. Negro Educ. 17 73/1 Live fast, die young and have a good-looking corpse!
2004 Times (Nexis) 25 May 9 For those who are now leaving college to start work, the best philosophy may be to live fast, die young.
P15. colloquial (chiefly New Zealand, Australian, South African, and Irish English). to live on the smell of an oil (also oily) rag and variants: to barely subsist, to live or exist on next to nothing; to live or eat frugally.
ΚΠ
1851 Ainsworth's Mag. 20 431 A celebrated general of by-gone days expected a Hungarian hussar to live on the smell of an oil-rag.
1867 J. T. Thomson Rambles with Philosopher 133 He himself had lived on the odour of an oiled rag for six weeks.
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners 156 He'd live on the smell of an oil-rag.
1945 R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 265 The Japanese..had been reared, so to speak, to live on the smell of an oily rag—with the peace-time diet of many of the poorest of them consisting of nothing more than millet seed.
1973 P. Newton Big Country of South Island (1977) 87 They [sc. mules] can live on the smell of an oily rag..and are as tough as old boots.
1994 Weekly Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) (Electronic ed.) 15 July Often their theatres live on the smell of an oil rag and this turns administrators into gamblers.
P16. U.S. slang. where one lives: at the right or vital point; to the quick.
ΚΠ
1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career xxii. 386 When that little wife of mine says, ‘Tom you're a good fellow, God bless you,’ it goes right in where I live.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds xxxvi. 597 The Mormons never got a cent of it. This hurt Brigham—right where he lived.
1886 Cent. Mag. Feb. 511/1 If I could only have reached him where he lives, as our slang says.
1900 ‘J. Flynt’ & ‘F. Walton’ Powers that Prey 122 ‘Sock it to him!’ ‘Hit him where he lives!’
1977 J. Wambaugh Black Marble (1978) xiv. 330 These dogs would attack a burglar right where he lived.
P17. to live off the land (also the country): to sustain oneself by gathering or subsistence farming; spec. to take food supplies from the surrounding area, esp. without payment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > supply with food [verb (intransitive)] > seek or acquire food > from the land or countryside
to live off the land (also the country)1865
1865 U.S. Service Mag. Feb. 182 General Sherman has broken loose from his base of supplies, and, it is said, has given liberty to live off the country.
1884 Cent. Mag. Feb. 503/1 In his marches he had been obliged to live, to a great extent, off the country.
1913 H. Footner Jack Chanty 68 The Indians..live off the land during the summer.
1934 Discovery Mar. 63/1 It is possible to ‘live off the land’ to an extent never dreamed of by earlier explorers.
1949 Milwaukie (Oregon) Rev. 4 Aug. 1/4 The main cause for the Communist army success was the fact that it was well fed, living off the country as it marched through China.
1966 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 Jan. 25/3 Eskimos in the area [sc. Boothia Peninsula] live off the land.
1997 G. Hosking Russia (1998) iii. ii. 189 Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov..let his troops live off the land.
P18. you only live once [compare French on ne vit qu'une fois (1848 in Balzac; compare quot. 1896)] : used to express the view that one should make the most of the present without worrying about the future (often as a pretext for impulsive, reckless, or hedonistic behaviour). Cf. to live for (also in) the moment at moment n. Phrases 2f.
ΚΠ
1867 D. W. Thompson tr. Euripides in Sales Attici 245 You live but once, so make the best use of your time [Gk. ψυχῇ μιᾷ ζῆν, οὐ δυοῖν ὀϕείλομεν].]
1896 W. Walton tr. H. de Balzac Cousin Pons 74 An income of sixteen hundred francs, all of which they spent... ‘You only live once [Fr. on ne vit qu'une fois],’ said Madame Cibot.
1922 A. M. MacLean Our Neighbors vi. 73 I'm going to have that coat. You only live once, and what's the use of looking like your country cousin?
1978 M. Stewart I love my Wife (1980) i. i. 28 Have some fun, kid, whadda ya got to lose?.. Go on, you only live once!
2009 S. King Bk. Bright Ideas xiv. 188 ‘Oh, Freeda, I don't know if I should have any more vodka,’ Ma said. ‘My head's still spinning!’ ‘Oh well. You only live once,’ Freeda said.
P19. I'll (also you'll, he'll, etc.) live: (in weakened sense) there is no need for serious worry or concern; (I, etc.) will recover from a setback or inconvenience.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > [phrase] > no need for concern over health
I'll (also you'll, he'll, etc.) live1956
1956 J. Symons Paper Chase xi. 88 ‘Are you hurt?’ ‘I shall live.’
1963 N. Freeling Gun before Butter iii. 145 ‘Potato salad..doesn't sound much fun.’ ‘I'll live.’
1967 O. Hesky Time for Treason xviii. 146 ‘Better, darling?’ Miller asked Miriam anxiously... ‘Yes, she'll live,’ Tami said sourly.
1972 ‘R. Crawford’ Whip Hand i. vi. 34 The doctor asked him how he felt. ‘I'll live.’
1999 F. McCourt 'Tis xxii. 181 When I tell Tom to fuck off he laughs and tells me I'll live.

Phrasal verbs

PV1. With adverbs in specialized senses.† to live away
Obsolete.
intransitive. To lead a life of extravagance.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > waste of money or extravagance > spend money wastefully or extravagantly [verb (intransitive)] > lead life of extravagance
to live away1767
1767 H. Kelly Babler No. 3. II. 218 Possessed of such a handsome sum, I considered it as nothing more than a proper compliment to my wife, to live away for some time, and therefore set up a smart post-chaise.
1807 E. S. Barrett Rising Sun II. 80 He set up for an esquire himself, lived away at a most extravagant rate, and neglected his business.
1885 Argosy 39 28 Miss Reste had brought him several thousand pounds; but he and she had lived away, and not a sliver remained of it.
 to live down
†1. transitive. To defeat or overcome by living a spiritually or morally superior life. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > have or gain mastery or superiority over [verb (transitive)] > overcome or defeat > by spiritual power
vanquishc1380
to live down1647
1647 A. Burgess Vindiciæ Legis (ed. 2) 167 We may live down the Law, and we may preach down the Law, both which are a reproach to it.
1687 F. Atterbury Answer Considerations Spirit Luther p.ii A late prelate, of a remarkable zeal for the church, were religions to be tried by lives, would have lived down the pope, and the whole consistory.
1702 I. Gilling Serm. Lyme Regis 16 Good Men should live down Sin.
2. transitive. To put down, silence (scandal, prejudice, etc.); to cause (an incident, bad reputation, etc.) to be forgotten by good behaviour or the course of time. Now chiefly in negative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > refutation, disproof > refute, disprove [verb (transitive)] > and remove force of
to explain away1688
to live down1730
1730 R. Frost Calumny delineated 24 Take care to live down the Scandal.
1842 E. Miall in Nonconformist 2 1 It has lived down prejudice.
1893 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 158 How long do you think it will take in New York society for a girl with sixty thousand dollars a year to live anything down?
1927 Daily Express 2 June 11/6 General Averescu was originally selected by M. Bratiano to act as his place-holder temporarily while M. Bratiano lived down his unpopularity in retirement.
1942 Baltimore Sun 15 Mar. ‘A beautiful hunk of a man’. That phrase has passed into current slang, but it will take him [sc. Victor Mature] a long time to live it down.
2008 Daily Star (Nexis) 25 Jan. 39 I'd rather not be seen on TV doing worse than a chimpanzee. I'll never live it down.
†3. transitive. To lose hold of, forget (a fancy) as life goes on. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1884 H. R. Haggard Dawn II. viii. 111 It is very probable that your cousin will live down his fancy.
 to live forth
intransitive. To continue to exist (now rare). Also transitive: †to complete (a course or term of life) (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > continue in life [verb (intransitive)]
nesteOE
to live forthOE
overliveOE
lastc1225
livec1410
survive1473
supervive1532
subsist?1533
skill1537
to live on1590
outlive1594
(to be) to the front1871
OE Genesis B 851 Hie on gebed feollon.., bædon mihtigne þæt..him gewisade waldend se goda, hu hie on þam leohte forð libban sceolden.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 17213 Acc ȝiff þatt he þatt fullhtnedd iss. Her lifeþþ forþ onn erþe.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. x. l. 438 (MED) For-þi lyue we forth with lither men.
a1450 (?1420) J. Lydgate Temple of Glas (Tanner) (1891) l. 376 She shold haue Ioy, and of hir purgatorie Be holpen sone, and so forþ lyue in glorie.
1543 Necessary Doctr. Christen Man sig. B.viiv Christe..was conceyued and borne of his blessed mother, waxed and liued furth here in the worlde.
1630 W. Basse Table-Talke in Helpe to Memory 129 The bloud-thirsty and deceitfull man shall not liue forth halfe his daies.
1782 J. Hart Trodden down Strength 30 Live forth nature's course, trying what end the Lord will make.
1855 Ladies' Repository May 268/2 Nor find a burning soul lived forth More holily than his.
2000 E. Lipiński Aramaeans 565 This legal tradition lives forth in the later Syriac legislation.
 to live in
intransitive. To reside in an establishment; spec. (of an employee, esp. a domestic employee) to be resident at one's place of work. Cf. live-in adj. 1a. Opposed to to live out.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > inhabit type of place [verb (intransitive)] > dwell on premises or not
to live out1855
to live over the shop1862
to live in1890
1890 J. Watson Nature & Woodcraft vi. 71 The farm servants of Cumbria ‘live in’.
1896 C. Booth Life & Labour London VII. 217 The majority of grocers' assistants still live in.
1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait v. 45 The nurse girl..didn't live in... She came every day.
1971 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 2/8 The development is designed..to provide extra accommodation for undergraduates to enable all 400 to ‘live in’.
2001 A. Taylor Death's Own Door (2002) i. 12 I used to help out at Oak Tree House but just before the war I went to help Mr Moorcroft instead. Didn't live in, mind.
 to live on
intransitive. To continue in life; to survive (see sense 6a). Also in extended use: to thrive, endure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > continue in life [verb (intransitive)]
nesteOE
to live forthOE
overliveOE
lastc1225
livec1410
survive1473
supervive1532
subsist?1533
skill1537
to live on1590
outlive1594
(to be) to the front1871
1590 H. Smith Magistrates Script. 29 While they thinke to liue on & to reioyce still, suddenly rush vpon death, & make shipwrack in the calme sea.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) ii. iii. 155 Shall I liue on, to see this Bastard kneele, And call me Father? View more context for this quotation
1687 A. Behn Luckey Chance v. i. 57 Thou wou'dst live on, and be a baffl'd Cuckold.
1736 A. Hill Zara iv. i. 29 I yet live on, And talk of Death, as distant.
1866 M. Arnold Thyrsis iii, in Macmillan's Mag. Apr. 449 While the tree lived, he in these fields lived on.
1896 ‘M. Field’ Attila i. 20 I would rather drop down dead Than live on like my cousin.
1919 Outing Mar. 326/2 The spirit of Daniel Boone lives on.
1976 B. Roberts Kimberley 12 James Gregory's report..was soon discounted. His name, however, lived on.
1993 Spy (N.Y.) May 13/2 With cockroachlike indestructibility, Nathanson lives on.
 to live out
1. transitive.
a. To complete (a term of life); to survive the end of (a period of time). Also (Irish English): to outlive (a person).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > have duration [verb (transitive)] > outlast
to live out1535
outlast1570
outwear1579
outlive1582
supervive1586
outflourish1594
to stand out1600
outdure1611
outstanda1616
outsit1633
survive1633
endure1636
stay1639
outmeasure1646
superlast1648
outstaya1652
last1658
tarrya1662
superannuate1820
outrange1887
to see out1897
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms lv. 23 The bloudthurstie and disceatfull shal not lyue out half their daies.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State x. 25 Anciently they were, at least, to live out their annum luctus, their yeare of sorrow.
1702 W. Coward Second Thoughts xi. 421 The Wicked shall not live out half their Days.
1709 J. Strype Ann. Reformation I. i. 44 Wizards and conjurers prognosticating that she should not live out a year.
1899 G. N. Boothby Dr. Nikola's Experim. ii. 55 He was as certain as any one possibly could be that the chap could not live out the week.
1902 Eng. Dial. Dict. III. (at cited word) A begood tae think she wuz gaun tae leeve me oot fur it.
1945 H. L. Mencken Diary 30 Apr. (1989) 362 Thus Lillie lived out her days.
1971 M. Pilisuk & P. Pilisuk Poor Amer. 67 When we visited him in hospital he appeared serene, although he must have known that he would not live out the week.
1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 114 All I want..is to live out my remaining years with my beloved friend.
b. To weather (a storm). Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > escape > escape from [verb (transitive)] > pass through (danger or adversity)
passa1325
to wear out1617
weathera1631
to come through ——1655
survive1717
to live out1719
overa1800
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 287 The Savages in the Boat never could live out the Storm.
1857 T. H. Gladstone Englishman in Kansas x. 116 Quiet and industrious settlers from the North, silently trying to live out the storm.
1967 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 27 175/2 They can defensively turn inward to their own communities and follow a policy of noninvolvement, hoping to live out the storm.
2000 SF Weekly (Calif.) (Nexis) 6 Sept. Delilah..lived out the storm crammed inside her barbecue smoker.
2. transitive. To act out, realize, put into practice (a role, ideal, fantasy, etc.).
ΚΠ
a1680 T. Brooks Unsearchable Riches of Christ v, in Select Wks. (1824) I. 210 He lived up to his principles, he lived out his principles, when he was put hard to it.
1849 H. Withington in J. H. Allen Mem. Hiram Withington x. 160 He quietly speaks out, and lives out, his own convictions, calling upon other men to speak and to live out theirs.
1859 G. Smith Three Disc. on Relig. of Reason 63 To be truly good..is..to enjoy the freedom of living out our own good nature and being ourselves.
1897 Catholic World June 409 D. O'Kelly Branden will probably live out his own ideal of the poet as speaking to the sadder..moods of men and women in short scraps of verse.
1921 Glasgow Herald 10 Feb. 9/4 The President..said the Prince lived out consistently the motto of Rotarians.
1997 Bizarre Mar. 59/3 Rene believes orgies are on many men's sexual shopping list but only a few live out their fantasies.
3. intransitive. To reside outside an establishment; spec. to reside away from one's place of work. Opposed to to live in.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabiting a type of place > inhabit type of place [verb (intransitive)] > dwell on premises or not
to live out1855
to live over the shop1862
to live in1890
1855 ‘M. Harland’ Hidden Path vii. 78 She has never lived out before.
1896 C. Booth Life & Labour London VII. 218 Men..who live out not unfrequently help themselves to food.
1938 M. Cole in M. Cole & C. Smith Democratic Sweden xvii. 301 The total cost of the medical degree..is calculated to be just under 22,000 kr. for students living out.
2006 K. Boehm & J. Lees-Spalding Student Bk. 2007 287 Students living out tend to congregate in the Chesterton Road or Mill Road areas.
 to live together
intransitive. To cohabit; (also) to coexist.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > types of marriage custom or practice > [verb (intransitive)] > cohabit
to live together1483
adhere1525
cohabitc1530
to live in sin1838
to live (on) tally1864
shack1935
society > inhabiting and dwelling > [verb (intransitive)] > together
usec1384
hive1600
cohabit1601
cohabitate1624
co-inhabit1624
roof1636
to move in1850
to live in each other's pockets1934
shack1935
to live together1961
1483 Rolls of Parl. VI. 241/1 The said King Edward,..and the seid Elizabeth, lived together sinfully..in adultery.
1637 R. Monro Exped. Scots Regim. ii. 30 Some will alleage, he was Iohn Thomsons man. I answer, it was all one, if shee was good: for all stories esteeme them happie, that can live together man and wife, without contention.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice III. xv. 266 I..am only concerned that their living together before the marriage took place, should be so generally known. View more context for this quotation
1891 Daily News 14 July 7/3 It was admitted that they lived together.
1919 R. Fry Let. 6 Oct. (1972) II. 457 I don't think they're married; they've lived together for twelve years.
1961 L. F. Litwack North of Slavery ii. 47 His state had found it impossible for the two races to live together on equal social or political terms.
2008 Charleston (W. Virginia) Gaz. (Nexis) 30 Mar. 7 s They live together in a Los Angeles house.
 to live up
1. intransitive. to live up to: (originally) to act in accordance with (a principle, one's status, etc.); (now chiefly) to meet (an expectation).to live up to one's name: see name n. and adj. Phrases 16.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > a standard of conduct > act in accordance with [verb (transitive)]
goOE
sue?c1335
suit1647
act1649
to live up to1650
assimilate1792
the world > action or operation > carrying out > observance or carrying out a promise, law, etc. > observe or carry out a promise, law, etc. [verb (transitive)] > advice, method, or principle > act in full accordance with
to live up to1650
act1747
1650 Disc. conc. Affaires Ireland 3 We proceed not to the defalcation of a person who is not incurable, and to count any one desperate and derelict, is tacitely to resolve not to live up to the extensive latitude, and intensive heigth of our Religions.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 125. ⁋1 All those who do not live up to the Principles of Reason and Virtue.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 163. ¶4 I Am one of your Disciples, and endeavour to live up to your Rules.
1832 J. S. Knowles Hunchback i. i. 9 Your fortune..is ample; And doubtless you live up to't.
1837 G. E. Corrie 17 Sept. in Mem. (1890) iv. 90 I had an interesting conversation with the Squire on the duty of living up to one's convictions.
1863 S. Moody What is your Name? ix. 201 Nobly did the lowly-born fisherman of the Sea of Galilee live up to his name.
1905 E. Wharton House of Mirth i. i. 12 I always feel that to live up to them would include wearing book-muslin with gigot sleeves.
1943 D. Whipple They were Sisters xxi. 243 She knew..that Vera could never be happy until she tried to live up to her own standards.
1978 Jrnl. Brit. Stud. 18 110 A son could inherit little..except, perhaps, the responsibility to live up to his father's example.
2008 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 9 Mar. (Men's Fashion Mag.) 68 Frozen by the pressure to live up to his reputation, he plunged deeper into alcoholism.
†2. intransitive. To live at a high moral or intellectual level. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > [verb (intransitive)] > lead a virtuous life
to live welleOE
to live up1665
1665 M. Mead Solomon's Prescript. 48 To be a diligent Server of the most holy God, is made a matter of reproach? To live up in the Principles of that Religion, we all pretend to, is to expose ones self..to scoffs and jears?
1682 J. Dryden Religio Laici 13 Those who follow'd Reasons Dictates right; Liv'd up, and lifted high their Natural Light.
3. transitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). With it: to live extravagantly; to have a good time.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > spend [verb (transitive)] > spend to the limits of
to live up1948
1948 Chicago Tribune 30 Jan. 14/7 Dillon..told officials he had been dipping into bank funds for several years and that ‘I just lived it up’.
1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never vii. 200 They come to Havanna to live it up. They live about two years in two days.
1961 C. McCullers Clock without Hands xiii. 249 Nobody lives for always, but when I live I like to live it up.
1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon ii. 39 Those who lived it up in the cocktail lounges that night were also emotionally moved.
2001 Max Power Dec. 192/2 You've chucked a sicky and you're living it up at home.
PV2. With prepositions in specialized senses. to live by ——
(See also senses 2a, 3.)
intransitive. To have as one's guiding principle.
ΚΠ
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xliv. 319 Ða eorðlican hlafordas sint to ðæm gesette ðæt hie ða endebyrdnesse & ða ðegnunga hiora hieredum gebrytnige,..& ðæt folc is to ðæm gesett ðæt hie scylen be hira rædum libban.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) f. 20 Honestie my olde Graundfather called yt, when men liued by Law, not list.
a1716 O. Blackall Wks. (1723) I. i. 3 Rules..such as all that call themselves Christ's Disciples are oblig'd to observe and live by.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes i. 5 It is not easy to understand that sane men could ever..live by such a set of doctrines.
1939 G. Greene Confidential Agent i. ii. 77 You've got to choose some line of action and live by it. Otherwise nothing matters at all.
2008 Times (Nexis) 4 Mar. 15 Gangs become surrogate families offering leadership and protection and rules to live by.
 to live through ——
intransitive. To endure or survive (a life-threatening or unpleasant experience). Also used hyperbolically.
ΚΠ
1579 Poore Knight his Pallace Giiv To ciuill law hee lent a time..And while hee liued through Roman rout, did beare the price away.
1607 Times, Places, & Persons Holie Script. 73 He had no end of life in the olde world, for he liued through the flood.
1753 T. Smollett Ferdinand Count Fathom II. lxiii. 245 The prospect of which enabled him to bear the toil of living through the day.
1846 W. G. Simms Life Francis Marion ii. 29 The puny boy lived through the terrors and sufferings.
1928 N. Coward Mad about You in B. Day N. Coward: Compl. Lyrics (1998) 92/3 I can't live through a single minute..without your image in it.
1985 Times 17 Apr. 27/6 Malcolm Elliott retained his overall leadership of the Sealink International..yesterday, but he lived through some anxious moments.
2006 Sight & Sound Sept. 58/4 It transpires they've just lived through a cancer scare with their own young daughter.
 to live with ——
1. intransitive. To cohabit with (a spouse or (now esp.) a partner).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > types of marriage custom or practice > [verb (transitive)] > cohabit with
usec1384
to live with ——1661
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iv. xxxiii. 155 b If..he was found not able to live with her so fleshly, as his youth required.]
1661 G. Bishop New Eng. Judged 75 A Mother of many Children, one that had lived with her Husband the space of Twenty years.
1702 J. Savage Antient & Present State Germany 231 He lived with Clara..as with a Wife.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 136 I had now liv'd with Mr. Norbert near a quarter of a year.
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice III. viii. 147 She was more alive to the disgrace, which the want of new clothes must reflect on her daughter's nuptials, than to any sense of shame at her eloping and living with Wickham, a fortnight before they took place. View more context for this quotation
1854 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 23 Oct. (1954) II. 179 If you hear of anything that I have said..in relation to Mr. Lewes beyond the simple fact that I am attached to him and that I am living with him,..believe that it is false.
1879 A. Trollope John Caldigate II. iii. 33 Did she ever live with you?.. As your wife?
1928 E. Wallace Flying Squad xvi. 159 People are under the impression that you're living with me.
2000 New Republic 14 Aug. 16/1 Mary..lives with her partner in Colorado.
2. intransitive. colloquial. To put up with; to come to terms with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > absence of resistance > accept without resistance [verb (transitive)] > put up with or become reconciled to
bear1540
reconcile1543
to take up with1609
to come to terms1860
to live with ——1937
1937 T. S. Eliot in B. Dobrée From Anne to Victoria xliii. 603 Were one a person who liked to have busts about, a bust of Scott would be something one could live with.
1941 F. D. Roosevelt Let. 1 July in H. L. Ickes Secret Diary (1955) III. 567 Both of these are elements that we have to live with whether we like it or not.
1961 Listener 2 Nov. 694/2 We know that, on account of the balance of military power, we have got to live with it [sc. Communism].
1964 ‘W. Haggard’ Antagonists ii. 16 That was awkward, but the experienced Mr Palliser could live with it.
1973 J. Porter It's Murder with Dover vi. 56 Gary was illegitimate... Not that I ever made any secret about it. It was something Gary had to learn to live with.
2007 M. Lewycka Two Caravans 197 You make the wrong choice, you got to live with it.
3. intransitive. to live with oneself: to bear the responsibility for one's own actions, situation, etc.; to preserve one's self-respect.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > proper pride or self-respect > retain one's self-respect [verb (intransitive)]
to hold up one's head1553
to walk tall1846
to live with oneself1962
1962 P. Gregory Like Tigress at Bay xiv. 143 Would he be able to live with himself, later?
1971 ‘J. J. Marric’ Gideon's Art xi. 98 I think he'll find it difficult to live with himself if he's taken off [the job].
1973 R. Perry Ticket to Ride ii. 32 The note of hysteria in her voice stopped me dead. The sensible thing to do would have been to continue on my way but if I did I knew I'd find it awfully difficult to live with myself.
2005 J. Brand It's different for Girls i. 7 Susan's real father..could not have lived with himself unless he had spent any cash at the bookies or pissed it away in the pub.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† livev.2

Forms: late Middle English lyue.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: life n.
Etymology: < life n. (compare forms at that entry). Compare earlier live v.1 and later enliven v., liven v.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To give life to; = quicken v.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > giving of life > give life [verb (transitive)]
wrecchec897
quickOE
soulOE
aquicka1000
quickena1382
vivificate?a1475
live1483
envive1523
embreathea1529
instruct1532
animate1533
vivify1545
enlive1593
inanimate1610
vegetate1620
interanimatea1631
pre-inanimatea1631
enliven1631
vive1637
suscitate1646
1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iv. xxviii. f. lxxiij v This soule sensitif..which..euery beest beryth in his blood..it lyueth or quycketh the body to which he is conioyned.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
<
adj.1n.adv.1531adj.21790v.1eOEv.21483
随便看

　

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条，基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法，是英语学习的有利工具。

　

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间：2025/1/12 5:24:48