life

/laɪf/

/laɪf/

Other forms: lives

Plants, animals, insects, bacteria, viruses, algae, mold and humans all have life: they grow, eat, make waste, change, and reproduce. Rocks and minerals, not doing any of these, do not have life.

Your life is the time from your birth to your death — you can see this in its origins: "to remain, persevere, continue, live." Life is everything that happens: When people say, "That's life," they mean all the events and tendencies, the human condition itself. You might hear about "city life" — or "country life" for that matter — meaning the habits and expectations of inhabitants of a particular place.

Definitions of life

1. noun

   the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones
   “there is no life on the moon”

   types:

   biology

   characteristic life processes and phenomena of living organisms

   aerobiosis

   life sustained in the presence of air or oxygen

   type of:

   organic phenomenon

   (biology) a natural phenomenon involving living plants and animals
2. noun

   the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
   “he could no longer cope with the complexities of life”

   synonyms: living

   type of:

   experience

   the content of direct observation or participation in an event
3. noun

   the condition of living or the state of being alive
   “while there's life there's hope”

   “life depends on many chemical and physical processes”

   synonyms: aliveness, animation, living

   types:

   eternal life, life eternal

   life without beginning or end

   skin

   a person's skin regarded as their life

   endurance, survival

   a state of surviving; remaining alive

   subsistence

   a means of surviving

   type of:

   being, beingness, existence

   the state or fact of existing
4. noun

   living things collectively
   “the oceans are teeming with life”

   types:

   wildlife

   all living things (except people) that are undomesticated

   type of:

   animate thing, living thing

   a living (or once living) entity
5. noun

   animation and energy in action or expression
   “it was a heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to it”

   synonyms: liveliness, spirit, sprightliness

   types:

   pertness

   quality of being lively and confident

   airiness, delicacy

   lightness in movement or manner

   alacrity, briskness, smartness

   liveliness and eagerness

   energy, muscularity, vigor, vigour, vim

   an imaginative lively style (especially style of writing)

   elan

   enthusiastic and assured vigor and liveliness

   esprit

   liveliness of mind or spirit

   breeziness, jauntiness

   a breezy liveliness

   buoyancy, effervescence, irrepressibility

   irrepressible liveliness and good spirit

   high-spiritedness

   exuberant liveliness

   ebullience, enthusiasm, exuberance

   eager enjoyment or approval

   ginger, pep, peppiness

   liveliness and energy

   verve, vitality

   an energetic style

   vivacity

   high spirits and animation

   mettlesomeness

   courageous high-spiritedness

   lyricism

   unrestrained and exaggerated enthusiasm

   madness, rabidity, rabidness

   unrestrained excitement or enthusiasm

   type of:

   animation, brio, invigoration, spiritedness, vivification

   quality of being active or spirited or alive and vigorous
6. noun

   a characteristic state or mode of living
   “social life”

   “city life”

   “real life”

   types:

   ghetto

   any segregated mode of living or working that results from bias or stereotyping

   type of:

   being, beingness, existence

   the state or fact of existing
7. noun

   the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living
   “he hoped for a new life in Australia”

   “he wanted to live his own life without interference from others”

   type of:

   being, beingness, existence

   the state or fact of existing
8. noun

   the period between birth and the present time
   “I have known him all his life”

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time
9. noun

   the period from the present until death
   “he appointed himself emperor for life”

   types:

   days, years

   the time during which someone's life continues

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time
10. noun

    a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives
    “he got life for killing the guard”

    synonyms: life sentence

    type of:

    prison term, sentence, time

    the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned
11. noun

    an account of the series of events making up a person's life
    synonyms: biography, life history, life story

    examples:

    Parallel Lives

    a collection of biographies of famous pairs of Greeks and Romans written by Plutarch; used by Shakespeare in writing some of his plays

    types:

    autobiography

    a biography of yourself

    hagiography

    a biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a person who is a saint)

    profile

    biographical sketch

    memoir

    an account of the author's personal experiences

    type of:

    account, chronicle, history, story

    a record or narrative description of past events
12. noun

    a living person
    “his heroism saved a life”

    type of:

    individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul

    a human being
13. noun

    a motive for living
    “pottery was his life”

    type of:

    motivation, motive, need

    the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
14. noun

    the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death)
    “the battery had a short life”

    “he lived a long and happy life”

    synonyms: life-time, lifespan, lifetime

    types:

    afterlife, hereafter

    life after death

    kingdom come

    the next world

    immortality

    perpetual life after death

    type of:

    period, period of time, time period

    an amount of time