live
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
lives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lived,
past participle, past
-
living
present participle
-
to have life, as an organism; be alive; be capable of vital functions.
all things that live.
-
to continue to have life; remain alive.
to live to a ripe old age.
-
to continue in existence, operation, memory, etc.; last.
a book that lives in my memory.
-
to maintain or support one's existence; provide for oneself.
to live on one's income.
-
to feed or subsist (usually followed by on orupon ).
to live on rice and bananas.
-
to dwell or reside (usually followed by in, at, etc.).
to live in a cottage.
-
to pass life in a specified manner.
They lived happily ever after.
-
to direct or regulate one's life.
to live by the golden rule.
-
to experience or enjoy to the full.
At 40 she was just beginning to live.
-
to cohabit (usually followed bywith ).
-
to escape destruction or remain afloat, as a ship or aircraft.
verb (used with object)
-
lives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lived,
past participle, past
-
living
present participle
-
to pass (life).
to live a life of ease.
-
to practice, represent, or exhibit in one's life.
to live one's philosophy.
verb phrase
-
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.
-
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.
-
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
-
live high off / on the hog. hog.
-
live well, to live comfortably.
They're not wealthy but they live well.
-
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
-
It was the little gir's first time seeing live farm animals.
-
of, relating to, or during the life of a living being.
Water forms about 50 to 80 percent of an animal's live weight.
-
characterized by or indicating the presence of living creatures.
I stood still and listened to the live sounds of the forest.
-
Informal. (of a person) energetic and quick to speak or act; animated, spirited, or vivacious.
The club members are a really live bunch.
-
responsive to changing conditions, needs, etc., in an imaginative and proactive way.
I like this company—their approach is live and fresh.
-
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.
-
made up of actual persons.
He has several studio albums but rarely performs before a live audience.
-
(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.
-
burning or glowing.
We roasted our marshmallows over live coals in the firepit.
-
being in play, as a baseball or football.
-
(of ammunition)
-
loaded or unexploded; ready to explode.
Watch out—that’s a live grenade!
-
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.
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
being highly resonant or reverberant, as an auditorium or concert hall.
Plants can absorb the echoes in acoustically live spaces like galleries and gymnasiums.
-
having resilience or bounce.
The basketball was losing air rapidly and was barely live by the end of the game.
-
moving or imparting motion; powered.
-
vivid or bright, as color.
-
still in use, or to be used, as type set up or copy for printing.
adverb
idioms
adjective
-
(prenominal) showing the characteristics of life
-
(usually prenominal) of, relating to, or abounding in life
the live weight of an animal
-
(usually prenominal) of current interest; controversial
a live issue
-
actual
a real live cowboy
-
informal full of life and energy
-
(of a coal, ember, etc) glowing or burning
-
(esp of a volcano) not extinct
-
loaded or capable of exploding
a live bomb
-
radio television transmitted or present at the time of performance, rather than being a recording
a live show
-
-
recorded in concert
-
recorded in one studio take, without overdubs or splicing
-
-
connected to a source of electric power
a live circuit
-
(esp of a colour or tone) brilliant or splendid
-
acoustically reverberant
a live studio
-
sport (of a ball) in play
-
(of rocks, ores, etc) not quarried or mined; native
-
being in a state of motion or transmitting power; positively connected to a driving member
-
printing
-
(of copy) not yet having been set into type
-
(of type that has been set) still in use
-
adverb
verb
-
to show the characteristics of life; be alive
-
to remain alive or in existence
-
to exist in a specified way
to live poorly
-
to reside or dwell
to live in London
-
(often foll by on) to continue or last
the pain still lives in her memory
-
(usually foll by by) to order one's life (according to a certain philosophy, religion, etc)
-
to support one's style of life; subsist
to live by writing
-
(foll by with) to endure the effects (of a crime, mistake, etc)
-
(foll by through) to experience and survive
he lived through the war
-
(tr) to pass or spend (one's life, etc)
-
to enjoy life to the full
he knows how to live
-
(tr) to put into practice in one's daily life; express
he lives religion every day
-
to refrain from interfering in others' lives; to be tolerant
-
informal in one's sensitive or defenceless position
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
livesimple
-
livessimple
-
have livedperfect
-
has livedperfect
-
am livingprogressive
-
are livingprogressive
-
is livingprogressive
-
have been livingperfect progressive
-
has been livingperfect progressive
Past
-
livedsimple
-
had livedperfect
-
was livingprogressive
-
were livingprogressive
-
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:
But as originally proposed, it is likely most other workers will have to live and work in the UK for 10 years before being eligible for permanent settlement.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
“I hope we can learn from somebody else going through that scenario as opposed to us having to live it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Around 63,000 people still live in Kherson, compared with more than 280,000 before the Russian invasion, according to Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of communications for the regional administration.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Rather, they were supported by the 2.1 million Arabs who live in Israel proper—and almost all of them are Sunni Muslims, Christian Arabs, or Druze.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
When they arrive at Tala Leprosarium, Joey studies the crowded, run-down cabins where she will be forced to live.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Do you always reach for a fistful of liver biscuits to placate the little rascal?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Understanding this relationship could eventually help researchers identify new approaches to preventing or treating fatty liver disease.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
The inquest was adjourned until the test on the liver sample has been carried out.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Coroner Patricia Morgan told detectives to analyse a liver sample given to the police two years ago which was never tested, adding she wanted to explore "this further line of inquiry" before reaching a conclusion.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Hepatitis A is rarely fatal, but Farmer’s case was so severe that Jim and other doctors worried he might need a liver transplant.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
But Cult is assaying the livest of stories.
From Time ● Sep. 5, 2017
Her late-night calls to reporters once made her phone line the livest wire in Washington.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
Then list to me, and thou shalt never want For bit or sup, kirtel, or farthingale, As long thou livest.
From Tales of the Wonder Club, Volume III by M. Y. Halidom (pseud. Dryasdust)
Ayumi T, who lives in Tokyo, has kept an emergency bag for years in case of events like earthquakes, typhoons and extreme heat.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
"Newcastle were were in desperate trouble and I could never say no - we were bottom of the league, fighting for our lives," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Lemssouguer, a Moroccan-born mathematician who lives in a 400-year-old Tudor estate outside London and raises rare parrots, is renowned in the rough-and-tumble world of distressed-debt trading for placing bigger-than-usual bets that can move markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Luis Grande, head of the Baires Fly airline which carried Bolsonaro, told AFP on Thursday he had been hired by a broker "who lives in the United States."
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
I enter the address on my cell and see the street view of where the old man lives.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Many households are made up of families whose members have mixed legal statuses, including some who have lived in the area for generations.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
Life at number 8, where Rachel now lived, was very different to number 10.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
The World Bank estimates that 76 percent of Malawians lived below the international poverty line of three US dollars a day in 2025.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Teare said Parra Hernandez was a Mexican national who had lived in Harris County for more than 30 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
It was how he’d always lived: alone with Fa, away from the clans.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Now Vivie is away at school and Rozie, although still living at home, never wants to go to the water park anymore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
“We are going to park ourselves in front of our TV in the living room — we got a new TV, a 65-inch,” she said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
Larson said she was promised the possibility of living aboard for up to 15 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
The combined cost of living pressures have affected how much people are buying in the run up to the holiday, according to consumer and market research company Nielsen IQ.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
“My sister does,” Mutti said, “with her husband. But they have gone away. We’re living here now, me, my daughter and my two sons. My husband is away fighting the Russians.”
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
