lifer
Americannoun
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a person sentenced to or serving a term of life imprisonment.
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a person committed to a professional lifetime career in the military.
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a person who has devoted a lifetime to a profession, occupation, or pursuit.
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(in birding)
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Also called life bird. a species of bird not seen previously and that will therefore be added to the bird watcher's life list.
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the sighting of a bird of a previously unseen species.
It seems like forever since I've had a lifer!
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noun
Etymology
Origin of lifer
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.
"I know I'm a football fan and a Wrexham lifer because I'm inconsolable when we lose," said Reynolds.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2026
Snead is a scouting and player personnel lifer but also something of a renaissance man.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026
An Apple lifer, Cue has been with the company since the late 1980s and has long overseen the division of the company that may be the most successful during the Tim Cook era: services.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
John Furner, the Walmart WMT -1.58%decrease; red down pointing triangle lifer who was named Doug McMillon’s successor as chief executive, has been leading the U.S. arm of the retail behemoth for several years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025
Most of the juvenile lifer cases we handled involved clients who shared Evan's confusion about their adolescent behavior.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
