life form

American  

Or life-form

noun

1. the form that is characteristic of a particular organism at maturity.

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life form British  

noun

1. biology the characteristic overall form and structure of a mature organism on the basis of which it can be classified

2. any living creature

3. (in science fiction) an alien

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Etymology

Origin of life form

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

As we look toward Mars, researchers are asking whether small life forms could again play an outsized role, this time by helping turn a barren world into a place humans can survive.

From Science Daily

In these smaller volumes of water, nutrients would be more concentrated than in a large ocean, potentially making it easier for simple life forms to survive.

From Science Daily

The new evidence suggests that fungi had already been active for hundreds of millions of years, interacting with early life forms and transforming the landscape.

From Science Daily

These ancient resins sometimes contain "bio-inclusions" -- trapped remains of plants or animals -- that offer rare, detailed glimpses of life forms such as insects and flowers that are not usually preserved as fossils.

From Science Daily

Rivers do not resemble life forms as we’re used to them, though the language of rivers suggests they could.

From Los Angeles Times