Live definition

lĭv
lived lives living
See word origin
Frequency:
To support oneself; subsist.

Living on rice and fish; lives on a small inheritance.

verb
25
2
To practice in one's life.

Live one's beliefs.

verb
15
1
To pursue a positive, satisfying existence; enjoy life.

Those who truly live.

verb
14
2
To go through; experience.

Lived a nightmare.

verb
12
2
To be alive; exist.
verb
12
4
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(informal) Full of life, excitement, or activity; lively.

A live crowd at the parade; a live party.

adjective
4
0
Having life; alive.

Live animals.

adjective
5
2
Having positive qualities, as of warmth, vigor, vitality, brightness, brilliance, etc.

A live organization, a live color.

adjective
3
0
To continue to be alive.

Lived through a bad accident.

verb
2
0
Not yet exploded but capable of being fired.

Live ammunition.

adjective
1
0
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To remain in human memory.

Men's good deeds live after them.

verb
1
0
To remain in human memory.

An event that lives on in our minds.

verb
1
1
Live is defined as to have life, continue to be alive, to reside somewhere or to behave throughout one's life in a particular way.

An example of live is a person who's heart is beating and brain is functioning.

An example of live is a deer that was hit by a car, but is still walking and breathing.

An example of live is where a person sleeps and calls home.

An example of live is a person who spends their life being cautious.

verb
0
0
(electricity) Carrying an electric current or energized with electricity.

Live cables lying dangerously on the ground.

adjective
0
0
Not mined or quarried; in the natural state.

Live ore.

adjective
0
0
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(printing) Not yet set into type.

Live copy.

adjective
0
0
(sports) In play.

A live ball.

adjective
0
0
Broadcast while actually being performed; not taped, filmed, or recorded.

A live television program.

adjective
0
0
Involving performers or spectators who are physically present.

Live entertainment; a live audience.

adjective
0
0
At, during, or from the time of actual occurrence or performance.

The landing on the moon was telecast live.

adverb
0
0
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To be alive; have life.
verb
0
0
To enjoy a full and varied life.

He really knows how to live.

verb
0
0
To feed; subsist; depend on or have as one's usual food.

To live on fruits and nuts.

verb
0
0
To make one's dwelling; reside.
verb
0
0
To remain alive.
verb
0
0
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To last; endure.
verb
0
0
To pass one's life in a specified manner.

To live happily.

verb
0
0
To regulate or conduct one's life.

To live by a strict moral code.

verb
0
0
To maintain life; support oneself.

To live on a pension.

verb
0
0
To be dependent for a living (with off)
verb
0
0
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To practice or carry out in one's life.

To live one's faith.

verb
0
0
To spend; pass.

To live a useful life.

verb
0
0
To act (a role in a play) very convincingly or feelingly.
verb
0
0
Having life; not dead.
adjective
0
0
Of the living state or living beings.
adjective
0
0
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Of immediate or present interest.

A live issue.

adjective
0
0
Not yet burned.
adjective
0
0
Charged for explosion; unexploded.

A live shell.

adjective
0
0
Carrying an electric current.

A live wire.

adjective
0
0
In the native state; not quarried or mined.

Live rocks.

adjective
0
0
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Having resilience or elasticity.

A live rubber ball.

adjective
0
0
Fresh; pure.
adjective
0
0
(mech.) Imparting motion or power.
adjective
0
0
(printing) Set up ready to be printed.
adjective
0
0
(sports) In play.

A live ball.

adjective
0
0
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Still burning or glowing.

A live spark.

adjective
0
0
Not extinct.

A live volcano.

adjective
0
0
Involving an appearance or performance in person, rather than a filmed or recorded one; transmitted during the actual performance.

A live broadcast.

adjective
0
0
Recorded at a public performance.
adjective
0
0
In, from, or at an actual or public performance.

Recorded live at a nightclub.

adverb
0
0
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Having life; alive.
adjective
0
0
Relating to or containing living bacteria or active viruses, sometimes in an attenuated form.
adjective
0
0
(intransitive) To have permanent residence somewhere.

I live at 2a Acacia Avenue.

He lives in LA, but he's staying here over the summer.

verb
0
0
(intransitive) To survive; to persevere; to continue.

Her memory lives in that song.

verb
0
0
(intransitive, hyperbolic) To cope.

You'll just have to live with it!

I can't live in a world without you.

verb
0
0
To spend, as one's life; to pass; to maintain; to continue in, constantly or habitually.

To live an idle or a useful life.

verb
0
0
To act habitually in conformity with; to practice.
verb
0
0
To outlast danger; to float; said of a ship, boat, etc.

No ship could live in such a storm.

verb
0
0
(only used attributively) Having life; that is alive.

The post office will not ship live animals.

adjective
0
0
Being in existence; actual.

He is a live example of the consequences of excessive drinking.

adjective
0
0
Having active properties; being energized.
adjective
0
0
Operational; being in actual use rather than in testing.
adjective
0
0
(engineering) Imparting power; having motion.

The live spindle of a lathe.

adjective
0
0
(sports) Still in active play.

A live ball.

adjective
0
0
(broadcasting) Seen or heard from a broadcast, as it happens.

The station presented a live news program every evening.

adjective
0
0
Of a performance or speech, in person.

This nightclub has a live band on weekends.

adjective
0
0
Of a recorded performance, made in front of an audience, or not having been edited after recording.
adjective
0
0
Of firearms or explosives, capable of causing harm.

The air force practices dropping live bombs on the uninhabited island.

adjective
0
0
(circuitry) Electrically charged or energized, usually indicating that the item may cause electrocution if touched.

Use caution when working near live wires.

adjective
0
0
(poker) Being a bet which can be raised by the bettor, usually in reference to a blind or straddle.

Tommy's blind was live, so he was given the option to raise.

adjective
0
0
Featuring humans; not animated, in the phrases “live actors" or “live action".
adjective
0
0
Being in a state of ignition; burning.

A live coal; live embers.

adjective
0
0
Of an event, as it happens; in real time; direct.

The concert was broadcast live by radio.

adverb
0
0
Of making a performance or speech, in person.

He'll be appearing live at the auditorium.

adverb
0
0
The definition of live is seeing or hearing a performance as it is happening, not prerecorded.

An example of live is going to a concert.

adjective
0
1
To reside; dwell.

Lives on a farm.

verb
0
1
To conduct one's life in a particular manner.

Lived frugally.

verb
0
1
To spend or pass (one's life).
verb
0
1
Of, related to, or occurring during the life of one that is living.

A live birth; the live weight of an animal before being slaughtered.

adjective
0
1
Of current interest or relevance.

A live topic; still a live option.

adjective
0
1
Glowing; burning.

Live coals.

adjective
0
1
Of, relating to, or containing living bacteria or active viruses, sometimes in an attenuated form.

Live yogurt cultures; a live measles vaccine.

adjective
0
1
(1) An event that is broadcast or recorded as it happens. See real time.
0
1
(intransitive) To be alive; to have life.

He's not expected to live for more than a few months.

verb
0
1
(slang) live it up
  • To engage in festive pleasures or extravagances.
idiom
0
0
live off
  • To enjoy the best of everything; live in comfort or luxury.
idiom
0
0
live up to
  • To live or act in accordance with:
    Lived up to their parents' ideals.
  • To prove equal to:
    A new technology that did not live up to our expectations.
  • To carry out; fulfill:
    Lived up to her end of the bargain.
idiom
0
0
live and let live
  • to do as one wishes and let other people do the same; be tolerant
idiom
0
0
live something down
  • to succeed in making others forget the memory or shame of (one's fault, misdeed, etc.)
idiom
0
0
live high
  • to live in luxury
idiom
0
0
live in
  • to live at the place where one is in domestic service
idiom
0
0
(informal) live it up
  • to have a joyous or merry time
  • to indulge in pleasures, extravagances, etc. that one usually forgoes
idiom
0
0
live out
  • to live until the end of; last through
  • to sleep away from the place where one is in domestic service
idiom
0
0
live together
  • to dwell with each other; specif., to cohabit
idiom
0
0
live up to
  • to live or act in accordance with (certain ideals, promises, expectations, etc.)
idiom
0
0
live well
  • to live in luxury
  • to lead a virtuous life
idiom
0
0
live with
  • to dwell with; be a lodger at the home of
  • to cohabit with
  • to tolerate; bear; endure
idiom
0
0
where one lives
  • in a sensitive or vulnerable area
idiom
0
0

Other Word Forms

Adjective

Base Form:
live
Comparative:
liver 1

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

live up to
live something down
live high
live together
live up to
live well
where one lives

Origin of live

  • Middle English liven from Old English libban, lifian leip- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Short for alive

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English liven, from Old English libban, lifian (“to live"), from Proto-Germanic *libjanÄ…, from Proto-Indo-European *leip- (“leave, cling, linger"). Cognate with West Frisian libje, Old Saxon libbian (German Low German lÄ™ven (“to live")), Dutch leven, Old High German lebÄ“n (German leben), Old Norse lifa (Swedish leva), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (liban).

    From Wiktionary

  • See alive

    From Wiktionary

Live Sentence Examples

  • I live with my mother and daughter.

  • You're trying to live like your parents, Carmen.

  • Whatever occurs, we'll live with it.

  • Where everyone can live up to his or her maximum potential.

  • Sure, there were other places to live, but nothing would be like the valley where she had spent her childhood.

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Also Mentioned In

Words near live in the Dictionary