life raft
1
3.2
- noun
- /laɪf ræft/
:
salvavidas
- We just need a few more hands on this little life raft we've set afloat here.
Now, despite the best coping mechanisms, everyone needs a life raft.
- Now, despite the best coping mechanisms, everyone needs a life raft.
Examples
-
When faced with financial troubles, a supportive family can serve as your life raft.
-
She could never let go; she clings to him like a life raft.
Fiction book (1994) -
- We get to our life raft...
-
My coach was an absolute life raft to me at this time.
-
Each night she sprinkled her husband's English Leather on his pillow and hung onto it like a life raft.
Fiction book (1994) -
Her mother's head was bent over Pearl's hand, which she was holding as though it were a life raft on a stormy sea.
Fiction book (1994) -
That's your life raft.
Fiction book (2002) -
In a stormy sea, they clung to their life raft as the waves crashed around them.
-
During difficult times, friends can often be a life raft to help you stay afloat.
Synonyms
5
4.0
A rope you throw to rescue someone in water
How Helpful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'life' (preservation of life) with 'raft' (a rescue craft): a life raft is literally a raft used to save lives. The figurative extension to any form of support or relief in danger is a predictable metaphorical extension and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Life raft is used as a picture of rescue: imagine holding on to a small boat that keeps you safe in rough water. Because a life raft saves people in danger, people call any quick help that keeps someone safe a 'life raft' or 'support in a crisis'.