life-support
Americanadjective
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of or relating to equipment or measures that sustain or artificially substitute for essential body functions, as breathing or disposal of body wastes.
Without life-support equipment, the patient might die.
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of or relating to equipment or measures that provide, within a surrounding hostile environment, as outer space or ocean depths, a life-sustaining environment similar to that found on the earth's surface.
the life-support system of a spacecraft or submarine.
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of or relating to anything that fosters or sustains life, success, or continued existence, as of a person, thing, or nation.
the life-support system of the economy.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of life-support
First recorded in 1955–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He died three days later when his life-support machine was turned off.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Whichever show ultimately takes the prize, the season seemed like a flashing warning sign indicating that, at the risk of being a wolf-crying boy, the commercial musical theater continues sliding toward life-support levels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
In the Americas, doctors can help infected people by putting them on a life-support machine known as ECMO, for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which breathes for the patient by oxygenating the blood.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
After spending roughly a day in a stretched‑out "high Earth orbit", Orion's engines, navigation and life-support systems were checked, while the capsule looped our planet.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
Or will we think on longer time scales, with concern for our children and our grandchildren, to understand and protect the complex life-support systems of our planet?
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
