live-in
adjective
Also residing at the place of one's employment.
live-in
American
[liv-in]
/ ˈlɪvˌɪn /
adjective
-
Also residing at the place of one's employment.
a live-in maid.
-
living in a cohabitant relationship.
noun
live in
British
/ lɪv /
verb
adjective
-
living in the place at which one works
a live-in maid
-
living with someone else in that person's home
a live-in lover
live in
Idioms
-
Reside in one's place of employment or schooling, as in They wanted a baby-sitter who could live in , or Joe was planning to live in at the college . This expression is used primarily for domestic servants or students. [Late 1800s] Also see live out .
-
live in something . Continue in existence, memory, or some feeling. This sense appears in such phrases as live in the past , meaning “to concentrate on past memories,” or live in hope of , meaning “to continue anticipating that something will happen.” For example, Alice lived in the past; she had no interest in current events , or Jim lived in hope of getting a teaching post . Also see live in sin .
Etymology
Origin of live-in
1950–55; adj., noun use of verb phrase live in ( a place )
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:
The iPhone’s live-in assistant now relies, in part, on Google’s Gemini models to answer questions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Iwamasa had known Perry since around 1992 and became his live-in assistant in 2022, according to prosecutors.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
The live-in personal assistant to Friends star Matthew Perry has been sentenced to 41 months in prison, capping a multi-year legal saga surrounding the actor's death.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
He and his live-in girlfriend mingled their finances.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 18, 2026
When she was nine, her mother dispatched Lourdes and Rosa Amalia, then ten, to work for a former neighbor as live-in maids.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
If you like traveling and see yourself eventually being able to live in Mexico part-time, that is important information.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
The couple have joined the Monsanto Contamination Action Group – which was set up for people in Wrexham who live in communities affected by historic industrial waste dumping.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
He adds, “Nobody wants to live in a world where their individuality is questioned or worse, denied.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
We all live in a society where we’re trying to live and survive and participate,” said Crawford.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
Karli told me, as he said good-bye, that he would come and live in Canada when he was older, and he did too.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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.
