lifer
[lahy-fer]
- a person sentenced to or serving a term of life imprisonment.
- a person committed to a professional lifetime career in the military.
- a person who has devoted a lifetime to a profession, occupation, or pursuit.
- (in birding)
- Also called life bird.a species of bird not seen previously and that will therefore be added to the bird watcher's life list.
- the sighting of a bird of a previously unseen species: It seems like forever since I've had a lifer!
Show More
Origin of lifer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lifer
Contemporary Examples
The report reveals some disturbing trends in the current lifer prison population, Nellis says.
New Sentencing Project Report Reveals Scary Increase in Life SentencesEliza Shapiro
September 19, 2013
But that means a significant portion of the lifer population is behind bars for a non-homicide, Nellis points out.
New Sentencing Project Report Reveals Scary Increase in Life SentencesEliza Shapiro
September 19, 2013
They get more mail, by far, than a lifer or your average inmate coming home.
Historical Examples
Hunder'd'n One—lifer—plays off crazy—forty lashes every Monday.
The Ape, the Idiot & Other PeopleW. C. Morrow
Up the beach we chased, and dragged out the boat we called our ‘Lifer.’
The Motor Girls on Crystal BayMargaret Penrose
The djinn was in for a lifer, and was immortal; so thought Challis to himself.
It Never Can Happen AgainWilliam De Morgan
A lifer, an' hasn't a friend in th' woild, but he's happy as th' day's long.
Prison Memoirs of an AnarchistAlexander Berkman
If you stay here, you're a marked man; and when you are found tripping it'll be a lifer for you, at the least.
My Friend The MurdererA. Conan Doyle
lifer
- informal a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment
Show More
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 lifer
n.
"prisoner serving a life sentence," 1830, from life (n.).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper