alive
[uh-lahyv]
- having life; living; existing; not dead or lifeless.
- living (used for emphasis): the proudest man alive.
- in a state of action; in force or operation; active: to keep hope alive.
- full of energy and spirit; lively: Grandmother's more alive than most of her contemporaries.
- having the quality of life; vivid; vibrant: The room was alive with color.
- Electricity. live2(def 17).
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- alive to, alert or sensitive to; aware of: City planners are alive to the necessity of revitalizing deteriorating neighborhoods.
- alive with, filled with living things; swarming; teeming: The room was alive with mosquitoes.
- look alive! pay attention! move quickly!: Look alive! We haven't got all day.
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Origin of alive
Synonyms
See more synonyms for alive on Thesaurus.com4. active.
Antonyms
1. dead. 3. defunct. 4. lifeless.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for alive
Contemporary Examples
The distinction between over-policing and non-responsiveness was alive and well in Bed-Stuy.
After all, unlike the other vaccines currently in the pipeline, this one is alive and replication-competent.
The Syrians who arrived in Sicily this week are lucky to be alive.
The queen was so horrified that all her blood rushed to her heart when she realized that Little Snow White was alive once again.
If a person looks like they are alive, but their brain shows no signs of activity, is this person dead or alive?
Historical Examples
I tell you he's alive and well, only he's lost your money and Pish's and mine and his own.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Do you think there is any chance of my father being yet alive?
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Do you think, if I were alive, I would let any man rob me of the savings of my life?
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
He came home with me, and, far from having perished at sea, is now alive and well.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
He's left a gent more dead than alive back in Martindale, and I want him.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
alive
- (of people, animals, plants, etc) living; having life
- in existence; activethey kept hope alive; the tradition was still alive
- (immediately postpositive and usually used with a superlative) of those living; now livingthe happiest woman alive
- full of life; livelyshe was wonderfully alive for her age
- (usually foll by with) animateda face alive with emotion
- (foll by to) aware (of); sensitive (to)
- (foll by with) teeming (with)the mattress was alive with fleas
- electronics another word for live 2 (def. 11)
- alive and kicking (of a person) active and in good health
- look alive! hurry up! get busy!
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Word Origin
Old English on līfe in life
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for alive
adj.
c.1200, from Old English on life "in living." The fuller form on live was still current 17c. Alive and kicking "alert, vigorous," attested from 1859; "The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening" [Farmer]. Used emphatically, especially with man; e.g.:
[A]bout a thousand gentlemen having bought his almanacks for this year, merely to find what he said against me, at every line they read they would lift up their eyes, and cry out betwixt rage and laughter, "they were sure no man alive ever writ such damned stuff as this." [Jonathan Swift, Bickerstaff's Vindication, 1709]
Thus abstracted as an expletive, man alive! (1845).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with alive
alive
In addition to the idioms beginning with alive
- alive and kicking
- alive to
- alive with
also see:
- come alive
- eat someone alive
- look alive
- more dead than alive
- skin alive
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.