alivea‧live /əˈlaɪv/ ●●● S2 W3 adjective [not before noun] 
It was a bad accident – they’re lucky to be alive. My grandparents are still alive. We stayed alive by eating berries. He was kept alive on a life-support machine. Apparently he’s alive and well and living in Brazil.2still existing continuing to exist: Ancient traditions are very much alive in rural areas. Christianity is alive and well in Asia. The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country.3cheerful full of energy, happiness, activity etc: It was the kind of morning when you wake up and feel really alive.alive with Her face was alive with excitement. The whole house was alive with activity.4come alive a)if a subject or event comes alive, it becomes interesting and seems real: Hopefully, we can make history come alive for the children. b)if someone comes alive, they suddenly become happy and interested in what is happening: She only came alive when she sat down at the piano. c)if a town, city etc comes alive, it becomes busy: seaside resorts that come alive in the summer5be alive to a fact/possibility/danger etc to know that a particular fact etc exists and that it is important: The company is alive to the threat posed by foreign imports.6be alive with something to be full of living things that are moving: The pond was alive with fish.7bring something alive to make something interesting and real: The way he describes his characters really brings them alive. → skin somebody alive at skin2(3)
WORD ORIGINalive
Origin:
Old English on life ‘in life’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Are all your grandparents still alive?
- Blues clubs like these help keep the music alive.
- Not knowing whether he's dead or alive is a terrible feeling.
- Paramedics fought for an hour by the roadside to keep him alive.
- She was the last person to see him alive.
- The children were found alive and well after being missing for several days.
- The police found them lying on the kitchen floor. Mr Wilkins was dead and his wife was barely alive.
- I did not notice it while she was alive.
- She died in 1952 and I am now the only one of the family left alive.
- The coward choked out that you were still alive and hadn't been harmed, but it didn't save his neck.
- The Glens have the cup pedigree and their cup run has kept a disappointing season alive.
- The penalty kept the drive alive.
- The quest to make the songs come alive helps reignite the players' chemistry after the long layoff.
- While you're here don't say it, and we might all stand a chance of getting out of here alive.
Longman Language Activatornot dead
not dead: still alive: · Are all your grandparents still alive?keep somebody alive (=to prevent someone from dying by giving them food, medicine etc): · Paramedics fought for an hour by the roadside to keep him alive.barely alive: · The police found them lying on the kitchen floor. Mr Wilkins was dead and his wife was barely alive.alive and well (=alive and not injured or ill): · The children were found alive and well after being missing for several days.see somebody alive: · She was the last person to see him alive.
still living now: · A brother in Australia is Mary's only living relative.greatest living poet/composer/painter etc: · Seamus Heaney is Ireland's greatest living poet.
formal something that is animate is alive and able to move, and is therefore not an object: animate objects: · At this age, children are still unable to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects.
the fact or state of being alive: · Do you believe in life after death?· Unfortunately it's usually the worst experiences that remind us how precious life is.fight/struggle for life: · She sat beside the hospital bed, holding his hand as he struggled for life.cling to life (=to struggle to stay alive): · An 18-year-old San José man clung to life late Wednesday after being shot in the head during a robbery.
to continue to be alive to continue to be alive: · The baby was born with a serious heart defect and not expected to live.live for two years/three months/a long time etc: · My father only lived for a few years after his heart attack.· Cats normally live for about twelve years.the will to live (=the desire to live): · The will to live can be a vital factor in recovery.
to not die, even though you are in a dangerous situation: · The ship's crew eventually resorted to eating rats and even sawdust to stay alive.· Krasner, who has cancer, vowed she would stay alive until her brother was set free.
to remain alive longer than someone else, especially a relative or friend who has died: · Judith outlived two of her three children.outlive somebody by 10 years/six months etc: · Women, on average, outlive men by 1.9 years.
to live longer than someone else, usually someone closely related to you - used especially in newspaper articles: survive somebody by 10 years/six months etc: · Charles survived his wife by three months.be survived by: · Monroe is survived by his wife, Regina, and two sons, Stanley and John.
something that is alive a human, animal, plant, or anything that is alive: · An ocean is full of living things.· The tree, at 368 feet, is considered the world's tallest living thing.· Ecology is the study of how living things relate to their environment.
a living thing or one type of living thing - used in scientific or technical contexts: · Hobart is convinced that there are life forms on other planets.· Some scientists estimate that at least one third of the life forms that exist in deep oceans have not yet been discovered.· strange life forms in the Galapagos Islands
a living thing, especially an extremely small one - used in scientific and technical contexts: · Food poisoning is caused by a bacterial organism.living organism: · Genetic engineers manipulate living organisms such as cells or bacteria to create products which fight disease.
any living things, for example people, animals, plants, or all of these things together: · Oxygen is necessary to sustain life on Earth.· The new evidence seemed to indicate that life existed on Mars billions of years ago.animal/plant life (=all the animals or plants in a place): · Many species of plant life continue to be eradicated in South American rain forests.
animals and plants growing in natural conditions: · The Sea of Cortez is rich with wildlife.· The organization was set up to protect wildlife across Europe.
something that is not living and never has been living: inanimate object · How can you get angry with a car? It's an inanimate object!· Some languages categorise not only living things as masculine or feminine, but inanimate objects as well.
happy and energetic cheerful and active: · She was a lively and adventurous girl - not one for a quiet life.· As a speaker, he was articulate, lively, and funny.
a woman or girl who is vivacious has a lot of energy and a happy and attractive manner: · Laura was an all-American type -- cute, blonde, vivacious.· He married a vivacious girl called Sarah who he met at university.
full of interest and energy, especially when talking to someone: · Mike tends to be more animated in the presence of women.become animated: · As the evening went on she became quite animated, talking and laughing with the other girls.
to feel happy and lively, and to show this by the way you behave: · Stephen was a normal boy of seven, full of life and fun.· Before the accident he had been a cheerful, confident man, full of life.
informal to feel happy, energetic, and eager, and to show this by the way you behave: · I wish I was one of those people who are full of beans first thing in the morning.· You'd never think she'd been ill -- she came bouncing in this morning, full of beans.
to feel full of energy, happy, and free: · After the divorce she felt really alive for the first time in her life.· I only feel truly alive when I'm outside, in the open air.
to not die in spite of an accident, illness, or war · Only 12 of the 140 passengers on the plane survived.· Doctors predicted that the baby would not survive with such severe disabilities.· My grandmother wouldn't survive another operation.· Not many of the insects survive the winter.
someone who has survived an accident, war, illness etc: · So far rescue workers have found no sign of any survivors.· Survivors of the accident were rushed to the nearest hospital.sole survivor (=the only survivor): · An eight-month-old baby girl was the sole survivor of a car crash that killed both her parents.
to continue to live and not die when you are in a very dangerous situation, for example in a war or when you have very little food: · They managed to stay alive by eating roots and berries.· We had to ignore the terrible things going on around us, and just concentrate on staying alive.
to survive and get better after having a very serious illness or injury: · I was so ill that the doctors weren't sure if I was going to pull through.· The first few days after the accident were awful, and everyone was just praying he'd pull through.
to survive after being involved in a serious accident, especially because of good luck: · The driver was killed but his passenger escaped with only a few scratches.escape injury/death etc: · The family escaped injury when a fire gutted their two-bedroom apartment.narrowly escape (=only just escape): · The prime minister narrowly escaped a terrorist bomb in 1999.
if you say that someone will live , you mean that they will survive, even though they have a very serious illness, injury etc: · One of the victims has severe burns and is not expected to live.live or die: · Our baby was in the intensive care unit, and we didn't know whether she would live or die.live to tell the tale/live to tell about it (=survive a very dangerous experience, so that you are able to tell people about it afterwards): · There were ten in the lifeboat, but only three lived to tell the tale.
informal to survive when you are in a very dangerous situation or when you have a very serious illness: · At one point I was so exhausted and weak that I didn't think I was going to make it.· I was surprised she had made it through the night.
if someone lasts a period of time, they continue to live during that period, even though they have a very serious illness or injury: · His breathing was getting worse and he was not expected to last the night.· It's amazing that she's managed to last this long, really.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY My grandparents are still alive. We stayed alive by eating berries. He was kept alive on a life-support machine. Apparently he’s alive and well and living in Brazil. Christianity is alive and well in Asia. The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country. It was the kind of morning when you wake up and feel really alive.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Fifty-seven miners were buried alive.
My grandparents are still alive. We stayed alive by eating berries. He was kept alive on a life-support machine. Apparently he’s alive and well and living in Brazil. Christianity is alive and well in Asia. The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country. It was the kind of morning when you wake up and feel really alive.· The animals were burned alive when a farm building caught fire.
Fifty-seven miners were buried alive. (=very badly hurt or ill and almost dead)· He was swept up onto a beach after three days at sea, more dead than alive.
· The crew of the sinking vessel were lucky to escape alive.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Made from natural materials, they can be much more alive.· Gone is the old way of machines; come is the reborn nature of machines, a nature more alive than dead.· She felt physically fitter and more alive than she could ever remember.· It also can make the sound of music even more alive.· She felt more alive than she had for a long time.· His ears ringing, the blood pounding in his veins, Floyd felt more alive than he had for years.· At night my fields are more alive with poachers than rabbits.· The grass was greener, the sun was shining brighter, and people were more alive, I could see them clearer.
· But since the controversy is still very much alive, it seems advisable to take a new look at this issue.· But he was very much alive.· The issues of anti-popes and schisms were still very much alive in the late twelfth century.· He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral.· Nothing serious and very much alive.· In fact, the woman remained very much alive.· He is very much alive and kicking, strongly represented in the intertestamental literature, the New Testament and human experience.· The ideology of egalitarianism is still very much alive.
· Some of them just want to go back to places they liked while they were still alive.· For many years she lay in the coffin, but strangely remained as lovely as if she were still alive.· If the man were still alive, would he have played one himself?· Nine of the 16 still alive now are chronically infected but not necessarily sick.· And it's a myth that foxes are torn to pieces while still alive.· Although Neel died last February, many of his associates, including authors of classic anthropology texts, are still alive.· When he said no, I knew I was still alive.
NOUN· Nearly forty percent of people alive today live under governments which consider themselves Marxist.· Of course, there have been many who have speculated how Martin Luther King would think were he alive today.· If Darwin were alive today, he would surely place mankind as the prime mover in global evolution.· She is alive today because nearly 50 years ago the fates were kind to her, three sisters and a brother.· He would be 88 if he were alive today.· More than 10 million of our family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers are alive today because of cancer research.· Certainly they are difficult to accommodate comfortably in groups alive today.· Were he alive today, Tchaikovsky would be a candidate for psychiatric counseling and drug therapy.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► be alive to a fact/possibility/danger etcPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► eat somebody alive/eat somebody for breakfast
1not dead still living and not dead: - Adventureland brings alive the world of Caribbean pirates.
- Cabral looks at the clay and her face comes alive as she begins to shape it.
- Hodges' stories make history come alive.
- The streets come alive after dark.
- And the defense came alive in the second half.
- As I began to research the background and archaeology of those places, the book came alive in a different way.
- By night, the Landing comes alive with jazz and the blues.
- For most people such details might be rather boring, but Robertson makes the narrative come alive through the personalities.
- In Great Groups, talent comes alive.
- Jane Austen's ironies came alive, and the ellipses in Virginia Woolf's prose started to speak.
- The walls come alive with foaming beer and music surrounds them as the audience journeys upward in a can of Guinness.
- There were voices outside as the train came alive.
- The street was alive with music.
- wooded canyons alive with birds
- Looking through the rubble, Ruth saw the whole Castle was alive with the sparks of spears.
- Our voluntary, nonprofit organizations are alive with new initiatives.
- Suburban roads were alive with the squish of chamois leather.
- The dry ground was alive with game.
- The store is alive with colorful creations, and it is hard to know where to look first.
- The walls were alive with branches, running over the stone like veins.
- This one corner of City College was alive with a sense of possibility.
- Within minutes the room was alive with them.
- Richard would skin me alive if he ever found out.
It was a bad accident – they’re lucky to be alive. My grandparents are still alive. We stayed alive by eating berries. He was kept alive on a life-support machine. Apparently he’s alive and well and living in Brazil.2still existing continuing to exist: Ancient traditions are very much alive in rural areas. Christianity is alive and well in Asia. The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country.3cheerful full of energy, happiness, activity etc: It was the kind of morning when you wake up and feel really alive.alive with Her face was alive with excitement. The whole house was alive with activity.4come alive a)if a subject or event comes alive, it becomes interesting and seems real: Hopefully, we can make history come alive for the children. b)if someone comes alive, they suddenly become happy and interested in what is happening: She only came alive when she sat down at the piano. c)if a town, city etc comes alive, it becomes busy: seaside resorts that come alive in the summer5be alive to a fact/possibility/danger etc to know that a particular fact etc exists and that it is important: The company is alive to the threat posed by foreign imports.6be alive with something to be full of living things that are moving: The pond was alive with fish.7bring something alive to make something interesting and real: The way he describes his characters really brings them alive. → skin somebody alive at skin2(3)