live
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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lives,
present (3rd person singular)
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lived,
past participle, past
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living
present participle
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to have life, as an organism; be alive; be capable of vital functions.
all things that live.
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to continue to have life; remain alive.
to live to a ripe old age.
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to continue in existence, operation, memory, etc.; last.
a book that lives in my memory.
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to maintain or support one's existence; provide for oneself.
to live on one's income.
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to feed or subsist (usually followed by on orupon ).
to live on rice and bananas.
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to dwell or reside (usually followed by in, at, etc.).
to live in a cottage.
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to pass life in a specified manner.
They lived happily ever after.
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to direct or regulate one's life.
to live by the golden rule.
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to experience or enjoy to the full.
At 40 she was just beginning to live.
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to cohabit (usually followed bywith ).
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to escape destruction or remain afloat, as a ship or aircraft.
verb (used with object)
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lives,
present (3rd person singular)
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lived,
past participle, past
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living
present participle
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to pass (life).
to live a life of ease.
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to practice, represent, or exhibit in one's life.
to live one's philosophy.
verb phrase
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live up to to live in accordance with (expectations or an ideal or standard); measure up to.
He never lived up to his father's vision of him.
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live down to live so as to allow (a mistake, disgrace, etc.) to be forgotten or forgiven.
She'll never live that crucial moment of failure down.
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live in / out to reside at or away from the place of one's employment, especially as a domestic servant.
Their butler lives in, but the maids live out.
idioms
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live high off / on the hog. hog.
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live well, to live comfortably.
They're not wealthy but they live well.
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live it up, to live in an extravagant or wild manner; pursue pleasure.
He started living it up after he got out of the army.
adjective
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It was the little gir's first time seeing live farm animals.
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of, relating to, or during the life of a living being.
Water forms about 50 to 80 percent of an animal's live weight.
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characterized by or indicating the presence of living creatures.
I stood still and listened to the live sounds of the forest.
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Informal. (of a person) energetic and quick to speak or act; animated, spirited, or vivacious.
The club members are a really live bunch.
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responsive to changing conditions, needs, etc., in an imaginative and proactive way.
I like this company—their approach is live and fresh.
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Informal. mentally, emotionally, and physically alive, often in a new way; invigorated, confident, and fully engaged.
After months of quarantine, I felt live and refreshed being exposed to places outside.
During pregame practice we were feeling live and ready for anything.
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made up of actual persons.
He has several studio albums but rarely performs before a live audience.
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(of a radio or television program, podcast, etc.) broadcast or released while happening or being performed; not prerecorded or taped.
I watched a live telecast of the royal wedding.
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burning or glowing.
We roasted our marshmallows over live coals in the firepit.
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being in play, as a baseball or football.
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(of ammunition)
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loaded or unexploded; ready to explode.
Watch out—that’s a live grenade!
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consisting of real bullets or shot, as opposed to rubber bullets or some other charge; explodable.
Security forces used tear gas and live ammunition to break up the riot.
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of current interest or importance, as a question or issue; generating much debate or discussion.
Sexual harassment in the military is still very much a live issue.
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Also alive electrically charged; carrying an electric current, especially if exposed.
Crews safely removed the live wire brought down by a falling tree.
On the subway line, the third rail is live.
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being highly resonant or reverberant, as an auditorium or concert hall.
Plants can absorb the echoes in acoustically live spaces like galleries and gymnasiums.
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having resilience or bounce.
The basketball was losing air rapidly and was barely live by the end of the game.
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moving or imparting motion; powered.
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vivid or bright, as color.
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still in use, or to be used, as type set up or copy for printing.
adverb
idioms
adjective
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(prenominal) showing the characteristics of life
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(usually prenominal) of, relating to, or abounding in life
the live weight of an animal
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(usually prenominal) of current interest; controversial
a live issue
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actual
a real live cowboy
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informal full of life and energy
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(of a coal, ember, etc) glowing or burning
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(esp of a volcano) not extinct
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loaded or capable of exploding
a live bomb
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radio television transmitted or present at the time of performance, rather than being a recording
a live show
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recorded in concert
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recorded in one studio take, without overdubs or splicing
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connected to a source of electric power
a live circuit
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(esp of a colour or tone) brilliant or splendid
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acoustically reverberant
a live studio
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sport (of a ball) in play
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(of rocks, ores, etc) not quarried or mined; native
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being in a state of motion or transmitting power; positively connected to a driving member
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printing
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(of copy) not yet having been set into type
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(of type that has been set) still in use
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adverb
verb
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to show the characteristics of life; be alive
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to remain alive or in existence
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to exist in a specified way
to live poorly
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to reside or dwell
to live in London
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(often foll by on) to continue or last
the pain still lives in her memory
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(usually foll by by) to order one's life (according to a certain philosophy, religion, etc)
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to support one's style of life; subsist
to live by writing
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(foll by with) to endure the effects (of a crime, mistake, etc)
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(foll by through) to experience and survive
he lived through the war
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(tr) to pass or spend (one's life, etc)
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to enjoy life to the full
he knows how to live
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(tr) to put into practice in one's daily life; express
he lives religion every day
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to refrain from interfering in others' lives; to be tolerant
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informal in one's sensitive or defenceless position
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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livesimple
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livessimple
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have livedperfect
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has livedperfect
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am livingprogressive
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are livingprogressive
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is livingprogressive
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have been livingperfect progressive
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has been livingperfect progressive
Past
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livedsimple
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had livedperfect
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was livingprogressive
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were livingprogressive
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had been livingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of live1
First recorded before 900; Middle English liven, Old English lifian, libban; cognate with Dutch leven, German leben, Old Norse lifa, Gothic liban
Origin of live2
First recorded in 1535–45; in 1930–35 live 2 for def. 8; shortened variant of alive, used attributively
Explanation
The verb live means remain alive. If you hope to live until you're 100, start eating vegetables. When live rhymes with give, it's a verb that has to do with existing — being or staying alive, or making your home in a particular place, like when you say, "I live on the planet Earth for the time being." When live rhymes with hive, it is an entirely different word with a very similar meaning, an adjective that means "not dead", or "living". So you could describe your two pet fish by saying, "The one on the left, floating upside down, is the dead fish, and the one on the right is the live fish."
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.
See Examples For:
Merz called a two-state solution the best way for "Israelis, Palestinians, and their neighbours to live in peace and security".
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
He also wants to see more live bands on the system, as they did at Dekmantel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
I never saw the song performed live, but everyone knew about it because R.E.M. played it at a 1984 show in Seattle that was recorded for a syndicated radio show called “The Source.”
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Bancroft's work on the ball was not shown live, but as a replay later in the over.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“And it’s going to, for a long while. But day by day, step by step, we’ll carry on. She wouldn’t want us to wallow. She’d want us to live and be happy.”
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
He said both of his parents died in the past ten years — his dad had Alzheimer’s disease and his mother had liver failure.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
In the new multicenter study, Cedars-Sinai researchers found that levels of an enzyme called UBE2N decline in liver cells as the disease becomes more advanced.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Current care mainly centers on lifestyle changes and efforts to limit additional liver damage.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2026
Arellano: First mention of Donald Trump by Becerra — another drinking game my compa and I could play, but I need to keep my liver for a few more decades, so no thanks!
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
And it isn’t a calf’s liver, it’s too red.
From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
But Cult is assaying the livest of stories.
From Time ● Sep. 5, 2017
I'm the livest, kickingest person you ever saw.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was just about the livest and jumpin'est opera yet turned out by a young composer in the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
Her late-night calls to reporters once made her phone line the livest wire in Washington.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was curious to see the contents of those press agent flimsies transcribed on the flaring columns as the livest news obtainable.
From The Whirligig of Time by Wayland Wells Williams
Countering that trend are young people who have spent the past three years doing the opposite: enlisting in the military, marrying and building lives inside a nation at war, reports Anvee Bhutani.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
But small gestures are often where hospitality lives.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2026
Democrat Xavier Becerra, the frontrunner to become the state’s next governor, often invokes the story of his parents’ humble beginnings as immigrants from Mexico who, through hard work, built happy and productive lives in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
A sharp increase in human activity is having an impact on the way a Himalayan bird lives and communicates, two studies by Indian researchers have found.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Every night of their lives they’d gone to sleep to that crackling hiss and that bittersweet tang of woodsmoke.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
My maternal grandmother, Marcela Miranda, was born in Arizona’s copper country in 1914 and lived in the United States until she was about 7.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
"She lived a simple life. She never did anything to anyone."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In 2024, only 24% of Black households owned the home they lived in, compared with 73% of White households, according to the Pew Research Center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
This technique compares genetic differences among living species and combines them with fossil dates and estimated rates of evolutionary change to calculate when common ancestors may have lived.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
That I was friendless, except for the people who lived in my phone.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
In 2024, Smith revealed that she was living with the debilitating effects of multiple sclerosis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Speaking from Gaza City, he said Palestinians were "living in graves while still alive" and have endured "severe suffering".
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
“We’re living with measles as an ongoing public health threat to the United States,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Brown University Pandemic Center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Nearly 9 out of every 10 students who used credit cards reported doing so to pay for basic living expenses such as food, housing and gas.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ostensibly we were still an elderly watchmaker living with his two spinster daughters above his tiny shop.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
