live

verb-see also LIVE in a place 1 [V+adv./prep.] to have your home in a particular place: to live in a house / an apartment * Where do you live? * She needs to find somewhere to live. * We used to live in London. * Both her children still live at home. * (BrE, informal) Where do these plates live (= where are they usually kept)? be alive 2 to remain alive: [V] The doctors said he only had six months to live. * Spiders can live for several days without food. * [Vtoinf] She lived to see her first grandchild. 3 [V] to be alive, especially at a particular time: When did Handel live? * He's the greatest player who ever lived. type of life 4 to spend your life in a particular way: [VN] She lived a very peaceful life. * They lived their lives to the full. * [V] He lived in poverty most of his life. * [V-N] She lived and died a single woman. be remembered 5 [V] to continue to exist or be remembered: This moment will live in our memory for many years to come. * Her words have lived with me all my life. have excitement 6 [V] to have a full and exciting life: I don't want to be stuck in an office all my life-I want to live! IDIOMS live and breathe sth to be very enthusiastic about sth: He just lives and breathes football. live and let live (saying) used to say that you should accept other people's opinions and behaviour even though they are different from your own live by your wits to earn money by clever or sometimes dishonest means live (from) hand to mouth to spend all the money you earn on basic needs such as food without being able to save any money live in the past to behave as though society, etc. has not changed, when in fact it has live in sin (old-fashioned or humorous) to live together and have a sexual relationship without being married live it up (informal) to enjoy yourself in an exciting way, usually spending a lot of money live a lie to keep sth important about yourself a secret from other people, so that they do not know what you really think, what you are really like, etc. live off the fat of the land to have enough money to be able to afford expensive things, food, drink, etc. live off the land to eat whatever food you can grow, kill or find yourself live to fight another day (saying) used to say that although you have failed or had a bad experience, you will continue you haven't lived used to tell sb that if they have not had a particular experience their life is not complete: You've never been to New York? You haven't lived! you live and learn used to express surprise at sth new or unexpected you have been told moreatBORROW, CLOVER, HALFn., PEOPLEn., POCKETn., ROUGHadv. PHRASALVERBS live by sth to follow a particular belief or set of principles: That's a philosophy I could live by. live by doing sth to earn money or to get the things you need by doing a particular thing: a community that lives by fishing live sth<->down to be able to make people forget about sth embarrassing you have done: She felt so stupid. She'd never be able to live it down. live for sb/sth to think that sb/sth is the main purpose of or the most important thing in your life: She lives for her work. * After his wife died, he had nothing to live for. live in to live at the place where you work or study: They have an au pair living in. seealsoLIVE-IN live off sb/sth (often disapproving) to receive the money you need to live from sb/sth because you do not have any yourself: She's still living off her parents. * to live off welfare live off sth to have one particular type of food as the main thing you eat in order to live: He seems to live off junk food. live on to continue to live or exist: She died ten years ago but her memory lives on. * He lived on for fifteen years after his wife died. live on sth 1 to eat a particular type of food to live: Small birds live mainly on insects. 2 (often disapproving) to eat only or a lot of a particular type of food: She lives on burgers. 3 to have enough money for the basic things you need to live: You can't live on forty pounds a week. * My salary isn't enough for us to live on. live out to live away from the place where you work or study: Some college students will have to live out. live out sth 1 to actually do what you have only thought about doing before: to live out your dreams / fantasies 2 to spend the rest of your life in a particular way: He lived out his days alone. live through sth to experience a disaster or other unpleasant situation and survive it: He has lived through two world wars. live together (also live with sb) 1 to live in the same house 2 to share a home and have a sexual relationship without being married live up to sth to do as well as or be as good as other people expect you to: He failed to live up to his parents' expectations. * The team called 'The No-Hopers' certainly lived up to its name. live with sb = LIVETOGETHER live with sth to accept sth unpleasant: I just had to learn to live with the pain. adjective, adverb-see also LIVE adjective [usuallybeforenoun] not dead 1 living; not dead: live animals * the number of live births (= babies born alive) * We saw a real live rattlesnake! not recorded 2 (of a broadcast) sent out while the event is actually happening, not recorded first and broadcast later: live coverage of the World Cup comparePRE-RECORDED 3 (of a performance) given or made when people are watching, not recorded: The club has live music most nights. * a live recording made at Wembley Arena in 1999 * the band's new live album * It was the first interview I'd done in front of a live audience (= with people watching). comparePRE-RECORDED electricity 4 (of a wire or device) connected to a source of electrical power: That terminal is live. bullets / matches 5 still able to explode or light; ready for use: live ammunition coals 6 live coals are burning or are still hot and red yogurt 7 live YOGURT still contains the bacteria needed to turn milk into YOGURT question / subject 8 (of a question or subject) of interest or importance at the present time: Pollution is still very much a live issue. IDIOMS a live wire a person who is lively and full of energy adverb broadcast at the time of an actual event; played or recorded at an actual performance: The show is going out live. IDIOMS go live (computing) (of a computer system) to become OPERATIONAL (= ready to be used)