lifeline

[lahyf-lahyn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lifeline ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a line, fired across a ship or boat, by means of which a hawser for a breeches buoy may be hauled aboard.

a line or rope for saving life, as one attached to a lifeboat.

any of various lines running above the decks, spars, etc., of a ship or boat to give sailors something to grasp when there is danger of falling or being washed away.

a wire safety rope supported by stanchions along the edge of the deck of a yacht.

the line by which a diver is lowered and raised.

any of several anchored lines used by swimmers for support.

a route or means of transportation or communication for receiving or delivering food, medicine, or assistance: This road is the town's lifeline and must be kept open despite the snow.

assistance at a critical time.

Origin of lifeline

First recorded in 1690–1700; life + line¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lifeline

aid, line, salvation

Examples from the Web for lifeline

Contemporary Examples of lifeline

These images, videos and messages became a lifeline between two worlds and a stark record of the distance between them.
War Is About More Than Heroes, Martyrs, and Patriots
Nathan Bradley Bethea
November 12, 2014
The third and final “lifeline” asked whether von Trier related to his female protagonists as well as his male ones.
Lars von Trier Breaks His Vow of Silence to Discuss ‘Nymphomaniac’ in Venice
Marlow Stern
September 1, 2014
The second “lifeline” was what von Trier had learned about female sexuality by making Nymphomaniac.
Lars von Trier Breaks His Vow of Silence to Discuss ‘Nymphomaniac’ in Venice
Marlow Stern
September 1, 2014
To step inside Madison Square Garden was to grab hold of a lifeline to an alternate world of harmonic order and balance.
‘When the Garden Was Eden’: Why New York City Needs the Knicks Now More Than Ever
Robert Silverman
April 19, 2014
Having Texas Republican women try to throw said candidate a lifeline only to smack him in the head with a big-ass anchor.
The 'RedState Women' Wooing Scheme
Michelle Cottle
April 2, 2014

Historical Examples of lifeline

I thought at least she would see my initials all over your lifeline.
The Twelfth Hour
Ada Leverson
“Give her the once over and throw out the lifeline,” Jimmie said.
Turn About Eleanor
Ethel M. Kelley
Ten months of siege followed as Grant methodically cut the Confederate 39 lifeline.
Manasses (Bull Run) National Battlefield Park-Virginia
Francis F. Wilshin
She wakes with a tearing start from the gray dreams of death that fill her lifeline.
The Big Time
Fritz Reuter Leiber
Half my memories were doubled, half my lifeline crooked and twisted, three new moles upon my sword-hand.
The Big Time
Fritz Reuter Leiber

British Dictionary definitions for lifeline

lifeline

noun

a line thrown or fired aboard a vessel for hauling in a hawser for a breeches buoy

any rope or line attached to a vessel or trailed from it for the safety of passengers, crew, swimmers, etc

a line by which a deep-sea diver is raised or lowered

a vital line of access or communication

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 lifeline

also life-line, 1700, "rope used somehow to save lives," from life (n.) + line (n.); figurative sense first attested 1860. Sense in palmistry from 1890.