GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  1.       

    Life , n.; pl. Lives . [AS. līf; akin to D. lijf body, G. leib body, MHG. līp life, body, OHG. līb life, Icel. līf, life, body, Sw. lif, Dan. liv, and E. live, v. √119. See Live, and cf. Alive.]
    1. The state of being which begins with generation, birth, or germination, and ends with death; also, the time during which this state continues; that state of an animal or plant in which all or any of its organs are capable of performing all or any of their functions; -- used of all animal and vegetable organisms.
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    2. Of human beings: The union of the soul and body; also, the duration of their union; sometimes, the deathless quality or existence of the soul; as, man is a creature having an immortal life.
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      She shows a body rather than a life.
      Shak.

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    3. (Philos.) The potential principle, or force, by which the organs of animals and plants are started and continued in the performance of their several and cooperative functions; the vital force, whether regarded as physical or spiritual.
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    4. Figuratively: The potential or animating principle, also, the period of duration, of anything that is conceived of as resembling a natural organism in structure or functions; as, the life of a state, a machine, or a book; authority is the life of government.
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    5. A certain way or manner of living with respect to conditions, circumstances, character, conduct, occupation, etc.; hence, human affairs; also, lives, considered collectively, as a distinct class or type; as, low life; a good or evil life; the life of Indians, or of miners.
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      That which before us lies in daily life.
      Milton.

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      By experience of life abroad in the world.
      Ascham.

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      Lives of great men all remind us
      We can make our lives sublime.
      Longfellow.

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      'T is from high life high characters are drawn.
      Pope

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    6. Animation; spirit; vivacity; vigor; energy.
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      No notion of life and fire in fancy and in words.
      Felton.

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      That gives thy gestures grace and life.
      Wordsworth.

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    7. That which imparts or excites spirit or vigor; that upon which enjoyment or success depends; as, he was the life of the company, or of the enterprise.
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    8. The living or actual form, person, thing, or state; as, a picture or a description from, the life.
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    9. A person; a living being, usually a human being; as, many lives were sacrificed.
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    10. The system of animal nature; animals in general, or considered collectively.
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      Full nature swarms with life.
      Thomson.

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    11. An essential constituent of life, esp: the blood.
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      The words that I speak unto you . . . they are life.
      John vi. 63.

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      The warm life came issuing through the wound.
      Pope

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    12. A history of the acts and events of a life; a biography; as, Johnson wrote the life of Milton.
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    13. Enjoyment in the right use of the powers; especially, a spiritual existence; happiness in the favor of God; heavenly felicity.
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    14. Something dear to one as one's existence; a darling; -- used as a term of endearment.
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      ☞ Life forms the first part of many compounds, for the most part of obvious meaning; as, life-giving, life-sustaining, etc.
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      Life annuity, an annuity payable during one's life. -- Life arrow, Life rocket, Life shot, an arrow, rocket, or shot, for carrying an attached line to a vessel in distress in order to save life. -- Life assurance. See Life insurance, below.  -- Life buoy. See Buoy. -- Life car, a water-tight boat or box, traveling on a line from a wrecked vessel to the shore. In it person are hauled through the waves and surf. -- Life drop, a drop of vital blood. Byron. -- Life estate (Law), an estate which is held during the term of some certain person's life, but does not pass by inheritance. -- Life everlasting (Bot.), a plant with white or yellow persistent scales about the heads of the flowers, as Antennaria, and Gnaphalium; cudweed. -- Life of an execution (Law), the period when an execution is in force, or before it expires. -- Life guard. (Mil.) See under Guard. -- Life insurance, the act or system of insuring against death; a contract by which the insurer undertakes, in consideration of the payment of a premium (usually at stated periods), to pay a stipulated sum in the event of the death of the insured or of a third person in whose life the insured has an interest. -- Life interest, an estate or interest which lasts during one's life, or the life of another person, but does not pass by inheritance. -- Life land (Law), land held by lease for the term of a life or lives. -- Life line. (a) (Naut.) A line along any part of a vessel for the security of sailors. (b) A line attached to a life boat, or to any life saving apparatus, to be grasped by a person in the water. -- Life rate, rate of premium for insuring a life. -- Life rent, the rent of a life estate; rent or property to which one is entitled during one's life. -- Life school, a school for artists in which they model, paint, or draw from living models. -- Lifetable, a table showing the probability of life at different ages. -- To lose one's life, to die. -- To seek the life of, to seek to kill. -- To the life, so as closely to resemble the living person or the subject; as, the portrait was drawn to the life.
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