love
a strong feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, such as for a parent, child, friend, or pet: He bent and kissed his newborn daughter on the brow, his heart full of love and gratitude.
a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for another person: The couple’s ardent love for each other, poured out in these love letters, survived their wartime separation.
sexual passion or desire.
active, self-giving concern for the well-being of others: Love of one's neighbor is the greatest virtue.What this suffering world needs is more love.
a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart: I long to be with you, my love.He was my first and only love.
(used as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?
a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour: It's the story of her many loves, told through the eyes of a journalist.
Love, a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
strong enthusiasm or liking for anything: His huge personal library testified to his love of books.
a thing for which one has a strong enthusiasm or liking: The theater was her great love.
Religion. the benevolent affection and deep compassion of God for all creatures, or the reverent devotion returned from them to God.
Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.
to have a warm personal attachment to or deep affection for: All her students love her.
to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for (another person).
to feel a strong liking for or take great pleasure in; enjoy actively and with enthusiasm: I love music.He's loving his new job.
to feel or show active, self-giving concern for: Love your neighbor—even the one you don’t like.
to feel or express reverent devotion toward; adore.
to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
to have sexual intercourse with.
to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
to have love or affection for another person; be in love: Those who have never loved will not understand what I am saying.
love up, to hug and cuddle: She loves that little guy up every chance she gets.
Idioms about love
for love,
out of devotion, affection, liking, or enjoyment.
without compensation: He volunteered at the animal shelter for love.
for the love of, in consideration of; for the sake of: For the love of mercy, stop that noise!
in love, infused with or feeling deep affection or passion: He was a youth always in love.
in love with, feeling deep affection or passion for (a person, idea, occupation, etc.); enamored of: I was in love with the girl next door.Anyone spending that many hours here without pay must be in love with their work!
make love,
to engage in sexual activity.
to embrace and kiss as lovers.
Origin of love
1Other words for love
Opposites for love
| 1, 2 | hatred, dislike |
| 15, 16 | detest, hate |
Other words from love
- out·love, verb (used with object), out·loved, out·lov·ing.
- o·ver·love, verb, o·ver·loved, o·ver·lov·ing.
Words Nearby love
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use love in a sentence
Every now and again, we come across a love story that touches our hearts in more ways than be.
WNBA Player Maya Moore Marries Jonathan Irons, The Man She Helped Free From Prison | Jasmine Grant | September 17, 2020 | Essence.comAgain, I didn’t think much of it as a 15-year-old, but I just had a love for food.
Tom Colicchio Hopes (and Fears) COVID-19 Will Change the Restaurant Industry | Pallabi Munsi | September 16, 2020 | OzyIdeally you should be growing and evolving at similar rates and speeds for romantic love, I should say.
She’d met me in 1986, at a party for returned Peace Corps volunteers and had fallen in love with the guy who’d just spent two years teaching in Swaziland.
What if Your Company Had No Rules? (Bonus Episode) | Maria Konnikova | September 12, 2020 | FreakonomicsTo be a real home cook, the kind who put love and attention into each dish, was to make everything yourself.
What happened to true love knows no boundaries and all that?
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic | Samantha Allen | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST“I love my job and I love my city and I am committed to the work here,” he said in a statement.
The Golden State Preps for the ‘Red Wedding’ of Senate Races | David Freedlander | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd we have a lot of great guests this season: Greta Gerwig, Natasha Lyonne, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi is back—I love that guy.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTYou just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness | Marlow Stern | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTTerrorism is bad news anywhere, but especially rough on Odessa, where the city motto seems to be “make love, not war.”
In this case, I suspect, there was co-operant a strongly marked childish characteristic, the love of producing an effect.
Children's Ways | James SullyThe well-known "cock and bull" stories of small children are inspired by this love of strong effect.
Children's Ways | James SullyWomen generally consider consequences in love, seldom in resentment.
Pearls of Thought | Maturin M. BallouAnd as she hesitated between obedience to one and duty toward the other, her life, her love and future was in the balance.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxNothing but an extreme love of truth could have hindered me from concealing this part of my story.
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan Swift
British Dictionary definitions for love
/ (lʌv) /
(tr) to have a great attachment to and affection for
(tr) to have passionate desire, longing, and feelings for
(tr) to like or desire (to do something) very much
(tr) to make love to
(intr) to be in love
an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
(as modifier): love song; love story
a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something
Christianity
God's benevolent attitude towards man
man's attitude of reverent devotion towards God
Also: my love a beloved person: used esp as an endearment
British informal a term of address, esp but not necessarily for a person regarded as likable
(in tennis, squash, etc) a score of zero
fall in love to become in love
for love without payment
for love or money (used with a negative) in any circumstances: I wouldn't eat a snail for love or money
for the love of for the sake of
in love in a state of strong emotional attachment and usually sexual attraction
make love
to have sexual intercourse (with)
archaic to engage in courtship (with)
Origin of love
1Other words from love
- Related adjective: amatory
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with love
In addition to the idioms beginning with love
- love affair
- love at first sight
also see:
- all's fair in love and war
- course of true love
- fall in love
- for the love of
- labor of love
- make love
- misery loves company
- no love lost
- not for love or money
- puppy love
- somebody up there loves me
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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