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alive

[uh-lahyv]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

having life; living; existing; not dead or lifeless.

living (used for emphasis): the proudest man alive.

in a state of action; in force or operation; active: to keep hope alive.

full of energy and spirit; lively: Grandmother's more alive than most of her contemporaries.

having the quality of life; vivid; vibrant: The room was alive with color.

EXPAND

Electricity. live² (def. 17).

COLLAPSE

Idioms

alive to, alert or sensitive to; aware of: City planners are alive to the necessity of revitalizing deteriorating neighborhoods.

alive with, filled with living things; swarming; teeming: The room was alive with mosquitoes.

look alive! pay attention! move quickly!: Look alive! We haven't got all day.

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Alive is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English on līfe in life; see a-¹

Related forms

a·live·ness, noun

half-a·live, adjective

Synonyms
4. active.

Antonyms
1. dead. 3. defunct. 4. lifeless.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To alive

Example Sentences

Precisely those things she wanted when alive continued as desires after death.

Sometimes, those who have died seem more alive than those who have not.

The sun seems to come alive with arcing loops that show magnetic field lines interacting above its surface.

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Precisely those things she wanted when alive continued as desires after death.

Sometimes, those who have died seem more alive than those who have not.

The sun seems to come alive with arcing loops that show magnetic field lines interacting above its surface.

What seems apparent, and what everyone seems to agree on, is that they were once alive.

Nima quickly gets tangled up in a race to escape the island alive.

In cooler part of range, tops may be killed by light frost, but roots usually stay alive to send up new stems.

For another, people are remaining alive even after they're blown up and decapitated, which is insane.

Our campus is alive all the time because our students make it so.

For years only blurred telephoto shots gave proof he was alive.

Ensuring that the animals are worth more alive than dead may be their only shot at survival.

And they proceed to remove his liver while he's still alive.

Except for our hero, all the men were smashed up, drowned or eaten alive.

They're superb habitat plants--my garden is more alive than it's ever been.

Just having been alive for a while could protect you from getting the novel swine flu circling the planet.

No lawsuits were filed, but then the physicist was still alive at the time.

The cells actually collected by the needle sit in an insulated safe zone and are thus left alive.

Red-eyed tree frogs have some amazing ways to stay alive.

Empty space is full, particles are waves, and cats can be both alive and dead at the same time.

These scientists must keep ants alive for years in order to study them.

Staying alive is expensive, using resources that might otherwise be devoted to reproduction.

The bodies show few signs of other trauma, suggesting the men were alive when beheaded.

All space missions have one inescapable dependency: the electricity flowing through their systems to keep them alive.

Steinman was not alive to receive his recognition, but his accomplishments will benefit so many people.

In a universe of empty space and stellar furnaces and ice worlds, it is good to be alive.

The nature of the congresswoman's injury, along with prompt emergency care kept her alive.

Many of them are also weird-looking-not, at first glance, related to anything now alive.

The tips of such a tree show organisms that are alive today.

For a clincher, racial hostility seems to be alive and well.

The crude oil killed all of the larvae whereas the nicotine-free stuff left a fifth of them alive after two days.

In recording thought in written words, he believed, people save themselves the trouble of keeping thought alive in.

By contrast, final-salary schemes remain alive and expensively kicking in the public sector.

Watch the people and cultures of the region come alive in thrilling videos.

He's spent his life chasing a sea monster that's never been taken alive.

Plant a water-wise front yard alive with texture and blooms.

We're going to artificially kill people so it buys us time, and then bring them back alive.

Academic hierrarchy is real and alive and strong and those who practise it don't often talk about it.

Everyone alive today is descended from a group of people from a single region who survived this catastrophe.

Towns can be said to be alive or dead, but in the case of my town, it's so alive you can eat it.

And that there was no way to keep the tree alive in a drought-tolerant landscape.

Now developers have all sorts of ways to keep players alive longer.

All those dry, boring subjects from high school were suddenly alive for me.

But for many people in poor places, the disease is alive and kicking-unlike its victims.

Fortunately, there are theropods with threadlike feathers alive today: baby birds.

My generation has stayed around and tried to keep the town alive.

What mattered was that he personified their fight for freedom, kept alive their hopes and defied their enemies.

The sun was playing with mountain surface, coloring it with morning light and making mountains alive.

Hand-operated pump would have kept catch alive during long trips.

So many of the prehistoric creatures were so unlike anything alive today.

The golden age of coin-op gaming is behind us, but there are still some hold-outs dedicated to keeping the flame alive.

When the grants run out, colleges hope that encouraging data will keep their programs alive.

More likely, partisan pressure will keep the past alive.

The key to keeping the magic alive in a marriage, experts say, is finding ways to promote the positive.

What may have been a comet causes electrical circuits to come alive.

Authorities are receiving several reports of pigeons found alive with metal darts through their skulls.

Had you been alive at the dawn of the solar system, the night sky would have been bright enough to read by.

Also on display were experimental robot models capable of telling whether a victim is dead or alive by checking vital signs.

It's a southern tradition that is still relatively alive and well.

And, in fact, the dead could look better when exhumed than they did while still alive.

He's lucky to be alive and sentient, but the trauma has taken its toll:.

Mythical red mercury, the supposed fuel for mini-nukes, is still alive and gearing up for a comeback.

It is here that the coast comes alive with sea cliffs, balsam forests, and offshore islands.

Of course, such critter chips have limitations, because they are alive.

Let's keep the dream alive and make the unknown elements of space known to our world.

The key to keeping the magic alive in a marriage, experts say, is finding.

Thank you for making this seem to come alive for me.

By contrast, mammals in the northern hemisphere were rapidly diversifying and becoming the ancestors of all mammals alive today.

On the other hand, there are many patients alive today because they were treated with antiangiogenic drugs:.

Onshore, the half mile of beach was alive with seals.

The economy might be on the ropes, but e-commerce appears to be alive and well.

So it was clear that they thought this guy could keep them alive and in one piece and complete the mission.

The more snow that slides past you, the less likely you'll be buried alive.

Most likely a significant number of us would not be alive if antibiotics were not in force.

Beautiful during the spring, the area really comes alive in the winter when migrating waterfowl sweep into the area.

The rainy, overcast night was alive with tracers and explosions.

Older implantable cardiac devices have a solid track record of keeping heart patients alive longer.

But it's beyond the parkway that the region's history truly comes alive.

During this period you are kept alive artificially whist the heart is worked on.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

alive (əˈlaɪv)

—*adj*
1.	(of people, animals, plants, etc) living; having life
2.	in existence; active: they kept hope alive; the tradition was still alive
3.	(immediately postpositive and usually used with a superlative) of those living; now living: the happiest woman alive
4.	full of life; lively: she was wonderfully alive for her age
5.	(usually foll by with) animated: a face alive with emotion
6.	(foll by to) aware (of); sensitive (to)
7.	(foll by with) teeming (with): the mattress was alive with fleas
8.	electronics another word for live
9.	alive and kicking (of a person) active and in good health
10.	look alive! hurry up! get busy!

[Old English on līfe in life]

a'liveness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

alive

c.1200, from O.E. on life "in living." The fuller form on live was still current 17c. Alive and kicking "alert, vigorous," attested from 1859; "The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening" [Farmer].

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

alive

In addition to the idioms beginning with alive, also see come alive; eat someone alive; look alive; more dead than alive; skin alive.