lift

American  

[lift] / lɪft /

verb (used with object)

• lifts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lifted,
  past participle,  past
• lifting
  present participle

1. to move or bring (something) upward from the ground or other support to a higher position; hoist.

   Synonyms:

   elevate

   Antonyms:

   lower

2. to raise or direct upward: to lift one's head.

   He lifted his arm in a gesture of farewell;

   to lift one's head.

3. to remove or rescind by an official act, as a ban, curfew, or tax.

   a court decision to lift the ban on strikes by teachers.

4. to stop or put an end to (a boycott, blockade, etc.).

   The citizenry will have to conserve food and water until the siege against the city is lifted.

5. to hold up or display on high.

6. to raise in rank, condition, estimation, etc.; elevate or exalt (sometimes used reflexively): By hard work they lifted themselves from poverty.

   His first book lifted him from obscurity.

   By hard work they lifted themselves from poverty.

7. to make audible or louder, as the voice or something voiced.

   The congregation lifted their voices in song.

8. to transfer from one setting to another.

   For the protagonist of the new play, the author has lifted a character from an early novel.

9. Informal. to plagiarize.

   Whole passages had been lifted from another book.

10. Informal. to steal.

    His wallet was lifted on the crowded subway.

11. airlift.

12. to remove (plants and tubers) from the ground, as after harvest or for transplanting.

13. Horology. (of an escape wheel) to move (a pallet) by moving along the outer, oblique face.

14. to pay off (a mortgage, promissory note, etc.).

15. Golf. to pick up (the ball), as to move it from an unplayable lie.

16. to perform a surgical lift on.

17. Shipbuilding.

    1. to transfer (measurements and the like) from a drawing, model, etc., to a piece being built.

    2. to form (a template) according to a drawing, model, etc.

18. to cease temporarily from directing (fire or bombardment) on an objective or area.

    They lifted the fire when the infantry began to advance.

19. Fox Hunting. to take (hounds) from the line of a fox to where it has just been seen.

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verb (used without object)

• lifts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• lifted,
  past participle,  past
• lifting
  present participle

1. to go up; yield to upward pressure: The lid won't lift.

   The box is too heavy to lift.

   The lid won't lift.

2. to pull or strain upward in the effort to raise something.

   to lift at a heavy weight.

3. to move upward or rise; rise and disperse, as clouds or fog.

4. (of rain) to stop temporarily.

5. to rise to view above the horizon when approached, as land seen from the sea.

noun

• lifts
  plural

1. the act of lifting, raising, or rising.

   the lift of a hand.

2. the distance that anything rises or is raised.

   a lift of 20 feet between canal locks.

3. a lifting or raising force.

   A kite depends on the wind to act as its lift.

4. the weight, load, or quantity lifted.

5. an act or instance of helping to climb or mount.

   He gave her a lift onto the wagon.

6. a ride in a vehicle, especially one given to a pedestrian.

   Can you give me a lift across town?

7. a feeling of exaltation or uplift.

   Their visit gave me quite a lift.

8. assistance or aid.

   The fund-raiser's successful efforts proved a great lift for the organization.

9. a device or apparatus for lifting.

   a hydraulic lift.

10. a movement in which a dancer, skater, etc., lifts up his partner.

11. a cosmetic surgery that lifts and tightens a specified part of the body and removes excess skin and fat: a breast lift;

    an arm lift;

    a breast lift;

    a buttocks lift.

12. Skiing.

    1. ski lift.

    2. chairlift.

13. British.

    1. elevator.

    2. any device used to lift or elevate, as a dumbwaiter or hoist.

14. Informal. a theft.

15. a rise or elevation of ground.

16. Aeronautics. the component of the aerodynamic force exerted by the air on an airfoil, having a direction perpendicular to the direction of motion and causing an aircraft to stay aloft.

17. Nautical.

    1. the capacity of a cargo ship measured in dead-weight tons.

    2. topping lift.

18. one of the layers of leather forming the heel of a boot or shoe.

19. a special arch support built or inserted into footwear.

20. Mining. the slice or thickness of ore mined in one operation.

21. Building Trades. the height of the quantity of concrete poured into a form at one time.

22. Naval Architecture. any of the horizontal planks forming a type of half model lift model, able to be removed and measured as a guide to laying out the water lines of the vessel at full scale.

23. Typesetting. fat.

24. Printing. the quantity of paper loaded into or removed from a press or other printing machine at one time.

25. Horology.

    1. the displacement of a pallet by an escape wheel that has been unlocked.

    2. the angle through which the pallet passes when so displaced.

26. airlift.

lift ¹ British  

/ lɪft /

verb

1. to rise or cause to rise upwards from the ground or another support to a higher place

   to lift a sack

2. to move or cause to move upwards

   to lift one's eyes

3. (tr) to take hold of in order to carry or remove

   to lift something down from a shelf

4. (tr) to raise in status, spirituality, estimation, etc

   his position lifted him from the common crowd

5. (tr) to revoke or rescind

   to lift tax restrictions

6. to make or become audible or louder

   to lift one's voice in song

7. (tr) to take (plants or underground crops) out of the ground for transplanting or harvesting

8. (intr) to disappear by lifting or as if by lifting

   the fog lifted

9. to transport in a vehicle

10. informal (tr) to take unlawfully or dishonourably; steal

11. informal (tr) to make dishonest use of (another person's idea, writing, etc); plagiarize

12. slang (tr) to arrest

13. (tr) to perform a face-lift on

14. (tr) to pay off (a mortgage, etc)

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noun

1. the act or an instance of lifting

2. the power or force available or used for lifting

3. 1. US and Canadian word: elevator.  a platform, compartment, or cage raised or lowered in a vertical shaft to transport persons or goods in a building

   2. See chairlift ski lift

4. the distance or degree to which something is lifted

5. a usually free ride as a passenger in a car or other vehicle

6. a rise in the height of the ground

7. a rise in morale or feeling of cheerfulness usually caused by some specific thing or event

8. the force required to lift an object

9. a layer of the heel of a shoe, etc, or a detachable pad inside the shoe to give the wearer added height

10. aid; help

11. mining

    1. the thickness of ore extracted in one operation

    2. a set of pumps used in a mine

12. 1. the component of the aerodynamic forces acting on a wing, etc, at right angles to the airflow

    2. the upward force exerted by the gas in a balloon, airship, etc

13. See airlift

lift ² British  

/ lɪft /

noun

1. the sky

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lift Scientific  

/ lĭft /

1. An upward force acting on an object. Lift can be produced in many ways; for example, by creating a low-pressure area above an object, such an airplane wing or other airfoil that is moving through the air, or by lowering the overall density of an object relative to the air around it, as with a hot air balloon.

2. Compare drag See also airfoil buoyancy See Note at aerodynamics

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Synonym Usage

See raise.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• lifter
  noun
• underlift
  noun
• liftable
  adjective
• unliftable
  adjective
• unlifted
  adjective
• unlifting
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• lifts
  plural

Participles

• lifting
  present
• lifted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• lift
  simple
• lifts
  simple
• have lifted
  perfect
• has lifted
  perfect
• am lifting
  progressive
• are lifting
  progressive
• is lifting
  progressive
• have been lifting
  perfect progressive
• has been lifting
  perfect progressive

Past

• lifted
  simple
• had lifted
  perfect
• was lifting
  progressive
• were lifting
  progressive
• had been lifting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will lift
  simple
• will have lifted
  perfect
• will be lifting
  progressive
• will have been lifting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of lift

First recorded in 1250–1300; 1955–60 lift for def. 10; Middle English liften, from Old Norse lypta, derivative of lopt “air,” cognate with German lüften literally, “to take aloft”; see loft

Explanation

To lift something is to pick it up, or raise it in the air. You'll need to lift a flag before you start waving it. You can lift things literally, like when you lift your cat in the air to save it from your dog's slobbery tongue, or lift your glass for a New Year's Eve toast. You can also lift things figuratively, like when someone lifts your spirits, cheering you up, or when winning first prize in a contest lifts a writer from obscurity, elevating her position in the literary world. In Britain, lift is also another word for "elevator."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lift lifts lifted lifting

Despite those tough experiences, the midfielder described how Italian head coach Roberto de Zerbi helped lift the mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after taking over in March.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Investors have heightened their focus on long-term Treasury yields after their recent climb, partly on concerns that such moves lift borrowing costs for consumers, companies and the U.S. government.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

Provinces have shown reluctance to lift their own restrictions, but Ouellet said that overall "the Canadian market has been reinvigorated and there is more domestic trade."

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Some premiers from Canada’s provinces have told reporters that Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked the provinces to prepare to lift their ban on the sale of U.S. wines and spirits at government-run retailers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

I make myself comfortable at the Colonel’s desk and lift the heavy black phone receiver.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Globally, a very strong El Niño typically lifts average temperatures by 0.2C.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

An official lifts a gold-coloured plastic handle from a bag near the door.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Maybank lifts its target price to 13.50 Singapore dollars from S$11.48.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

“It’s … come to life, die, come back to life, and died. Now our whole discography seems to be in a ‘high tide lifts all ships’ moment.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

She lifts the edge of her apron to wipe her eyes.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Cofnas added that “Many passages are lifted with minimal editing, sometimes retaining copy-editing mistakes from the original source,” and found similar issues in other papers written by Arday.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

Sinner lifted his fifth career Grand Slam singles title by beating Alexander Zverev in the All England Club final.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

European indexes largely rose at market open, with the Europe-wide Stoxx 600 lifted by the banking sector.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Additional inventory across every sport will be added during the next stage and ticket limits will be lifted, but LA28 did not announce the opening date.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

At the sight of it, Torak’s spirits lifted.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

The patriotic presentation is lifting some people's spirits.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Last week, California’s Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved the merger, lifting the final obstacle in Charter’s path to close the deal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

At one booth, visitors pointed their phones at a humanoid wearing an apron as it gingerly reached for a toy chicken drumstick before clamping down and lifting the fake meat into a bucket.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Her services were free, and I didn’t have to do the heavy lifting, but I still had final say on the official itinerary.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

An almost musical blend of roars and rumbles filled the capsule as Gagarin felt the rocket beneath him trembling, fighting gravity, and lifting off the ground.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• cancel
• dismantle
• end
• relax
• remove
• rescind
• reverse
• stop