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Showing results for "lived"
  • past participle of live.
  • past tense form of live.
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  • lived
    lived
    adjective
    having life, a life, or lives, as specified (usually used in combination).
  • -lived
    -lived
    adjective
    having or having had a life as specified

lived

American  
[lahyvd, livd] / laɪvd, lɪvd /

adjective

  1. having life, a life, or lives, as specified (usually used in combination).

    a many-lived cat.


-lived British  
/ -lɪvd /

adjective

  1. having or having had a life as specified

    short-lived

"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

Pronunciation

Lived, meaning “having a certain kind or extent of life,” is not derived from the preterit and past participle of the verb live , but from the noun life , to which the suffix -ed has been added. The original pronunciation, therefore, and one still heard, is , which retains the vowel (ī) of life. Since the f of life changes to v with the addition of this suffix, as when leaf becomes leaved, this lived is identical in spelling with the preterit and past participle lived, and conflation of the two has led to the increasingly frequent pronunciation of this lived as in such combinations as long-lived and short-lived. Both pronunciations are considered standard.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of lived

A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at life, -ed 3

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:

Quintero lived next to her cousin, and they became “pen pals” after he was sent to juvenile hall, she testified.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 28, 2026

He said many had lived their whole lives without ever seeing an All-Ireland win for their county, including his own father Patrick who was born just days after the 1951 victory.

From BBC Jul. 27, 2026

“This one lived for itself, developing an economic mechanism based on human enslavement, which allowed it to become self-sustaining.”

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 27, 2026

Astronauts and cosmonauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station for more than 25 years.

From Science Daily Jul. 27, 2026

I know it sounds awful, but I wouldn’t have cared where Bubbe lived as long as she wasn’t moving in with us.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

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