life

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English Vietnamese dictionary

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Advanced English dictionary

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state of living
1 [U] the ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc. which people, animals and plants have before they die and which objects do not have: life and death + The body was cold and showed no signs of life. + My father died last year-I wish I could bring him back to life. + In spring the countryside bursts into life.
2 [U, C] the state of being alive as a human being; an individual person's existence: The floods caused a massive loss of life (= many people were killed). + He risked his life to save his daughter from the fire. + Hundreds of lives were threatened when the building collapsed. + The operation saved her life. + My grandfather lost his life (= was killed) in the Second World War. + Several attempts have been made on the President's life (= several people have tried to kill him).
living things
3 [U] living things: plant / animal life + marine / pond life + Is there intelligent life on other planets?
period of time
4 [C, U] the period between sb's birth and their death; a part of this period: He's lived here all his life. + I've lived in England for most of my life. + to have a long / short life + He became very weak towards the end of his life. + Brenda took up tennis late in life. + He will spend the rest of his life (= until he dies) in a wheelchair. + There's no such thing as a job for life any longer. + She is a life member of the club. + in early / adult life
5 [C] (used with an adjective) a period of sb's life when they are in a particular situation or job: She has been an accountant all her working life. + He met a lot of interesting people during his life as a student. + They were very happy throughout their married life.
6 [C] the period of time when sth exists or functions: The International Stock Exchange started life as a London coffee shop. + They could see that the company had a limited life (= it was going to close). + In Italy the average life of a government is eleven months.
See also - SHELF LIFE
punishment
7 [U] the punishment of being sent to prison for life; life IMPRISONMENT: The judge gave him life. + She is doing life for murder.
experience / activities
8 [U] the experience and activities that are typical of all people's existences: the worries of everyday life + He is young and has little experience of life. + Commuting is a part of daily life for many people. + Jill wants to travel and see life for herself. + We bought a dishwasher to make life easier. + In Africa life can be hard. + In real life (= when she met him) he wasn't how she had imagined him at all. + Life can be difficult when you move to a new town. + Life isn't like in the movies, you know.
9 [U, C] the activities and experiences that are typical of a particular way of living: country / city life + She enjoyed political life. + family / married life + How do you find life in America?
10 [C] a person's experiences during their life, the activities that form a particular part of a person's life: He has had a good life. + a hard / an easy life + My day-to-day life is not very exciting. + a life of luxury / crime + Her daily life involved meeting lots of people. + She lived a quiet life in the countryside. + Many of these children have led very sheltered lives (= they have not had many different experiences). + They emigrated to start a new life in America. + He doesn't like to talk about his private life. + She has a full social life. + articles about the love lives of the stars
See also - SEX LIFE
energy / excitement
11 [U] the quality of being active and exciting: This is a great holiday resort that is full of life. + We need to inject some new life into this project.
in art
12 [U] a living model or a real object or scene that people draw or paint: She had lessons in drawing from life. + a life class (= one in which art students draw a naked man or woman)
See also - STILL LIFE
story of life
13 [C] a story of sb's life
Synonym: BIOGRAPHY
She wrote a life of Mozart.
in children's games
14 [C] one of a set number of chances before a player is out of a game: He's lost two lives, so he's only got one left.
Idioms: be sb's life be the most important person or thing to sb: My children are my life. + Writing is his life.
bring sb/sth to life to make sb/sth more interesting or exciting: The new teacher really brought French to life for us. + Flowers can bring a dull room back to life.
come to life
1 to become more interesting, exciting or full of activity: The match finally came to life in the second half.
2 to start to act or move as if alive: In my dream all my toys came to life.
for dear life
for your life as hard or as fast as possible: She was holding on to the rope for dear life. + Run for your life!
for the life of you (informal) however hard you try: I cannot for the life of me imagine why they want to leave.
frighten / scare the life out of sb to frighten sb very much: You scared the life out of me coming in so suddenly like that.
full of beans / life having a lot of energy
get a life (spoken) used to tell sb to stop being boring and to do sth more interesting: Do us all a favour ...get a life!
lay down your life (for sb/sth) (literary) to die in order to save sb/sth: They were prepared to lay down their lives for their country.
life after death the possibility or belief that people continue to exist in some form after they die: Do you believe in life after death?
the life and soul of the party, etc. (BrE) the most amusing and interesting person at a party, etc.
life is cheap (disapproving) used to say that there is a situation in which it is not thought to be important if people somewhere die or are treated badly
(have) a life of its own (of an object) seeming to move or function by itself without a person touching or working it
make life difficult (for sb) to cause problems for sb: She does everything she can to make life difficult for him.
the man / woman in your life (informal) the man or woman that you are having a sexual or romantic relationship with: Anna has a new man in her life.
not on your life (spoken) used to refuse very firmly to do sth
take sb's life to kill sb
take your (own) life to kill yourself
take your life in your hands to risk being killed: You take your life in your hands just crossing the road here.
that's life (spoken) used when you are disappointed about sth but know that you must accept it: It's a shame I can't go on the trip to France, but that's life.
more at BET v., BREATH, BREATHE, CHANGE n., DEPART, DOG n., END v., FACT, FEAR n., FIGHT v., INCH n., KISS n., LARGE, LEASE, LIGHT n., MATTER n., MISERY, NINE, RISK v., SAVE v., SLICE n., SPRING v., STAFF n., STORY, TIME n., TRUE adj., VARIETY, WALK n., WAY n.

Thesaurus dictionary

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n.

1 existence, entity, being; sentience, viability:

Who can imagine the possible forms of life in the universe?

2 existence, survival, living, subsistence, sustenance:

Certain nutriments are necessary to life on earth.

3 existence, living, way of life, lifestyle:

What kind of life does he lead? I enjoy country life.

4 existence, lifetime, time; duration:

She did much during her short life. The life of a light-bulb depends on how often it is switched off and on

5 person, mortal, human (being), individual, soul:

The new drug might save millions of lives.

6 biography, autobiography, memoir(s), (life) story:

He has written a life of Mozart.

7 soul, spirit, spark of life, vital spark, moving spirit, life-force, élan vital; lifeblood; animation, vitality, liveliness, sprightliness, vivacity, sparkle, dazzle, dash, élan, vigour, verve, zest, flavour, pungency, freshness, effervescence, brio, flair, vim, energy, exuberance, enthusiasm, Colloq pep, zing, get-up-and-go:

We must breathe some life into these people. Eva is always the life of the party

8 obsession, preoccupation, passion, fixation, compulsion:

Model railways are his life.

9 bounce, resilience, spring, elasticity:

There's no life in this old tennis ball.

Collocation dictionary

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¹ living things

ADJ.

intelligent

Is there intelligent life on other planets?

| animal, bird, human, insect, marine, plant

LIFE + NOUN

form | cycle

² existence

VERB + LIFE

lose

He lost his life in an air crash.

| bring sb back to, restore sb to | cling to, fight for

She clung to life for several weeks.

| risk

She risked her life for the sake of the children.

| save

a drug that will save lives

| spare

She begged the soldiers to spare her son's life.

| give, lay down, sacrifice | claim, cost, end, take

The crash claimed 43 lives. His foolishness almost cost him his life. She took her own life.

| start

(figurative) The restaurant started life as a cinema.

LIFE + VERB

be lost

No lives were lost in the accident.

LIFE + NOUN

assurance, insurance

PHRASES

an attempt on sb's life

There have been three attempts on the president's life.

| in fear for/of your life

Witnesses are living in fear for their life after giving evidence against the gang.

| life after death

Do you believe in life after death?

| loss of life

The plane crashed with heavy loss of life.

| a matter of life and death

(figurative) These talks are a matter of life and death for the factory.

| the right to life

anti-abortionists campaigning for the right to life

| signs of life

The driver showed no signs of life.

³ period between birth and death

ADJ.

long, short | entire, whole | early | adult | later

In later life he took up writing.

| past, previous

He never discussed the unhappinesses of his past life. I think I may have been an animal in a previous life.

| future, next | working

He was a miner all his working life.

VERB + LIFE

go through, live, spend

She went through life always wanting what she couldn't get. He spent his whole life in Cornwall.

| end

He ended his life a happy man.

| shorten | prolong | dedicate, devote

He devoted his life to the education of deaf children.

LIFE + NOUN

history, story | membership | imprisonment, sentence | expectancy, span

(also

lifespan)

Japanese people have a very high life expectancy. the lifespan of a mouse

PREP.

for ~

She thought marriage should be for life.

| in your ~

for the first time in her life

| throughout your ~

Throughout her life she was dogged by loneliness.

PHRASES

all your life

I've known her all my life.

| at sb's time of life At his time of life he should be starting to take things easy. | the end of your life Her paintings became more obscure towards the end of her life. | late in life She discovered jazz quite late in life. | the … of your life I had the fright of my life when I saw the snake in my bed. He met the love of his life at college. | a phase/stage in/of (your) life She sensed she was entering a new phase in her life. | the prime of life You're still in the prime of life. | the remainder/rest of your life He'll be haunted by the crash for the rest of his life.

⁴ activity in the world

ADJ.

daily, day-to-day, everyday | real

a real-life drama

| modern | personal, private

She did not tolerate press intrusion into her private life.

| inner

Only his wife had access to his inner life.

| family, married | social | love, sex | public

His fame was so sudden that he was unprepared for public life.

| academic, business, cultural, economic, intellectual, political, professional, school | night

(also

nightlife)

What's the nightlife like in the town?

| city, village, etc.

VERB + LIFE

build, rebuild

He built his whole life around his children. She is still reb

PHRASES

an attitude to life, an outlook on life, a philosophy/view of life

I've always had a fairly optimistic outlook on life.

| a love of life

He always had a great love of life.

| a man/woman in your life

There has only been one woman in his life.

| see sth of life

I wanted to see something of life before I settled down.

| the … side of life

His time in London was his first glimpse of the seamier side of life. | want sth from/in/out of lifeThey both seem to want the same things out of life.

⁵ way of living

ADJ.

good, happy | lonely, miserable, sad, unhappy | hard | easy | active, busy, hectic | exciting | full | peaceful, quiet | normal, ordinary | healthy | sheltered | double

He had been leading a double life, married to two women.

VERB + LIFE

have, lead, live

She leads a busy social life.

| enjoy | change

Learning meditation changed her life.

| dominate, take over

He never let his work dominate his life.

| ruin

He ruined his life through drinking.

PHRASES

build/make/start a new life

They went to Australia to start a new life.

| enjoy/live life to the full

He always believed in living life to the full.

| the high life

enjoying the high life in the smartest hotels and restaurants of New York

| live a life of …

They're living a life of luxury in the Bahamas.

| a/the pace of life

The pace of life is much gentler on the island.

| the quality of life

He gave up his high-flying job and now enjoys a better quality of life.

| a way of life

She loved the Spanish way of life and immediately felt at home there.

⁶ liveliness

VERB + LIFE

come to

The city only comes to life at night.

| breathe, bring sth to, inject

They need some new, younger staff to breathe some life into the company.

| burst/hum/teem with

a child bursting with life

PHRASES

full of life

It's nice to see an old man still so full of life.

Concise English dictionary

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liveslaɪf
noun
+a characteristic state or mode of living
+the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living
+the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
+the condition of living or the state of being alive
+the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death)
+the period between birth and the present time
+animation and energy in action or expression
+an account of the series of events making up a person's life
+the period from the present until death
+a living person
+living things collectively
+a motive for living
+the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones
+a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives