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live

[liv]

Origin

verb (used without object)

to have life, as an organism; be alive; be capable of vital functions: all things that live.

to continue to have life; remain alive: to live to a ripe old age.

to continue in existence, operation, memory, etc.; last: a book that lives in my memory.

to maintain or support one's existence; provide for oneself: to live on one's income.

to feed or subsist (usually followed by on or upon): to live on rice and bananas.

EXPAND

to dwell or reside (usually followed by in, at, etc.): to live in a cottage.

to pass life in a specified manner: They lived happily ever after.

to direct or regulate one's life: to live by the golden rule.

to experience or enjoy life to the full: At 40 she was just beginning to live.

10.

to cohabit (usually followed by with).

11.

to escape destruction or remain afloat, as a ship or aircraft.

COLLAPSE

verb (used with object)

12.

to pass (life): to live a life of ease.

13.

to practice, represent, or exhibit in one's life: to live one's philosophy.

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Live is one of our favorite verbs.

So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:

to bark; yelp.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Verb phrases

14.

live down, to live so as to allow (a mistake, disgrace, etc.) to be forgotten or forgiven: She'll never live that crucial moment of failure down.

15.

live in/out, to reside at or away from the place of one's employment, especially as a domestic servant: Their butler lives in, but the maids live out.

16.

live up to, to live in accordance with (expectations or an ideal or standard); measure up to: He never lived up to his father's vision of him.

Idioms

17.

live high off/on the hog. hog (def. 16).

18.

live it up, Informal. to live in an extravagant or wild manner; pursue pleasure: He started living it up after he got out of the army.

19.

live well, to live comfortably: They're not wealthy but they live well.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English liven, Old English lifian, libban; cognate with Dutch leven, German leben, Old Norse lifa, Gothic liban

Dictionary.com Unabridged

adjective

being alive; living; alive: live animals.

of, pertaining to, or during the life of a living being: the animal's live weight.

characterized by or indicating the presence of living creatures: the live sounds of the forest.

Informal. (of a person) energetic; alert; lively: The club members are a really live bunch.

full of life, energy or activity: His approach in any business dealing is live and fresh.

EXPAND

burning or glowing: live coals in the fireplace.

having resilience or bounce: a live tennis ball.

being in play, as a baseball or football.

loaded or unexploded, as a cartridge or shell: live ammunition.

10.

made up of actual persons: to perform before a live audience.

11.

(of a radio or television program) broadcast while happening or being performed; not prerecorded or taped: a live telecast.

12.

being highly resonant or reverberant, as an auditorium or concert hall.

13.

vivid or bright, as color.

14.

of current interest or importance, as a question or issue; controversial; unsettled.

15.

moving or imparting motion; powered: the live head on a lathe.

16.

still in use, or to be used, as type set up or copy for printing.

17.

Also, alive. Electricity. electrically connected to a source of potential difference, or electrically charged so as to have a potential different from that of earth: a live wire.

COLLAPSE

adverb

18.

(of a radio or television program) at the moment of its happening or being performed; not on tape or by prerecording: a program broadcast live.

Idiom

19.

live one, Slang.

a person who spends money readily.

a person easily imposed upon or made the dupe of others.

Origin:
1535–45; 1930–35 for def. 11; aphetic variant of alive, used attributively

Related forms

live·ness, noun

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

Collins

World English Dictionary

live¹ (lɪv)

—vb (usually foll by in or at) (foll by on, upon, or by)
1.	to show the characteristics of life; be alive
2.	to remain alive or in existence
3.	to exist in a specified way: to live poorly
4.	to reside or dwell: to live in London
5.	(often foll by on) to continue or last: the pain still lives in her memory
6.	(usually foll by by) to order one's life (according to a certain philosophy, religion, etc)
7.	to support one's style of life; subsist: to live by writing
8.	(foll by with) to endure the effects (of a crime, mistake, etc)
9.	(foll by through) to experience and survive: he lived through the war
10.	(tr) to pass or spend (one's life, etc)
11.	to enjoy life to the full: he knows how to live
12.	(tr) to put into practice in one's daily life; express: he lives religion every day
13.	live and let live to refrain from interfering in others' lives; to be tolerant
14.	informal (US) where one lives in one's sensitive or defenceless position

[Old English libban, lifian; related to Old High German libēn, Old Norse lifa]

live² (laɪv)

—*adj*
1.	(prenominal) showing the characteristics of life
2.	(usually prenominal) of, relating to, or abounding in life: the live weight of an animal
3.	(usually prenominal) of current interest; controversial: a live issue
4.	actual: a real live cowboy
5.	informal full of life and energy
6.	(of a coal, ember, etc) glowing or burning
7.	(esp of a volcano) not extinct
8.	loaded or capable of exploding: a live bomb
9.	radio, television transmitted or present at the time of performance, rather than being a recording: a live show
10.	of a record
	a. recorded in concert
	b. recorded in one studio take, without overdubs or splicing
11.	connected to a source of electric power: a live circuit
12.	(esp of a colour or tone) brilliant or splendid
13.	acoustically reverberant: a live studio
14.	sport (of a ball) in play
15.	(of rocks, ores, etc) not quarried or mined; native
16.	being in a state of motion or transmitting power; positively connected to a driving member
17.	printing
	a. (of copy) not yet having been set into type
	b. (of type that has been set) still in use

—*adv*
18.	during, at, or in the form of a live performance: the show went out live

[C16: from on livealive]

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

live

O.E. lifian (Anglian), libban (W.Saxon) "to be alive," also "to supply oneself with food, to pass life (in some condition)," from P.Gmc. stem *libæ (cf. O.N. lifa, O.Fris. libba, Ger. leben, Goth. liban "to live"), from PIE base *leip- "to remain, continue" (cf. Gk. liparein "to persist, persevere;"

EXPAND

see leave).

"According to the Dutch Prouerbe ... Leuen ende laetan leuen, To liue and to let others liue." [Malynes, 1622]

To live it up "live gaily and extravagantly" is from 1951. To live up to "act in accordance with" is from 1690s. To live (something) down "outwear (some slander or embarrassment)" is from 1842. To live with "cohabit as husband and wife" is attested from 1749; sense of "to put up with" is attested from 1937. Lived-in "inhabited, occupied" is first recorded 1873. Live-in (adj.) first attested, 1955. Expression live and learn is attested from c.1620.

live

1540s, "having life," later (1611) "burning, glowing," aphetic of alive (q.v.). Sense of "containing unspent energy or power" (live ammunition, etc.) is from 1799; live wire is attested from 1890; figurative sense of "active person" is from 1903. Meaning "in-person (performance)"

is first attested 1934.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

live (līv)
adj.

Having life; alive.
Capable of replicating in a host's cells.
Containing living microorganisms or active virus, as a vaccine.

Slang Dictionary

live definition

mod.
cool; great. : Everything's live! No problem!

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

live

In addition to the idioms beginning with live, also see alive (live) and kicking; as I live and breathe; close to home (where one lives); (live from) day to day; fat of the land, live off the; high off the hog, live; in one's pocket (live in each other's pockets); learn to live with; people who live in glass houses.