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to lift

to lift

1 6.1
To move people or goods by air to places hard to reach
  • verb
  • /lɪft/
  • Specialized
: transportar por vía aérea
  • The helicopter will lift the injured hikers off the mountain and bring them to safety.

Examples

  • The presidential helicopter lifts off as several other helicopters wait behind, people filing into them.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The copter lifted off the pad and moved into the westbound traffic lanes.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • We can lift you out to safety.

  • I know the chopper will lift off.

  • Ready or not, several days later, as their launch vehicle lifted off, Diane held her breath.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Bulk carriers have hard hatches that are lifted to access the hold of ships.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Powered by turbojet motors, the huge copter is designed primarily to lift great weights.

  • Crawley and Greenburg lifted us a few crates of brewskis.

  • Tomorrow morning, the battalion's sortie will lift away from the King Abdul Aziz Air Base airfield.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Undeterred, Paine advocated a robust space program: orbiting space stations, space tugs to lift satellites.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

to fly
vsto lift
861 2.3

Travel in an airplane or control a plane

is used when transport must reach places that other means cannot
to airlift
vsto lift
20 4.6

To move people or supplies by plane when other transport is not possible

is used specifically for places unreachable by other means
to air-freight
vsto lift
  • Specialized
1 4.2

To send goods by plane for fast delivery

is reserved for transport where other means are impossible
to airfreight
vsto lift
  • Specialized
1 4.8

Send goods by plane

focuses on cases needing transport to places not reachable otherwise

Antonyms

to ground
  • Specialized
5 6.4

To stop a plane from flying for safety or discipline reasons

Idioms

to lift a finger
  • Informal
19 5.1

To make no effort to help

To make someone feel happier when they are sad

To reveal information that was previously hidden

To make someone feel happier

Phrasal Verbs

111 1.1

To raise someone or something to a higher place

22 3.7

To make someone feel happier and more hopeful

20 3.9

To rise into the air from the ground like a plane or rocket

16 2.7

To take something out by picking it up, often carefully or with a tool

Raise heavy objects to make your muscles stronger

6.1

Try to do better to meet higher standards

Compounds

face lift
  • Specialized
15 4.4

Surgery that tightens the skin on the face and removes extra tissue to make someone look younger

12 4.0

A small change to the look of something to make it more modern or attractive

5 3.8

A cosmetic update to a building or place that makes it look newer

4 2.7

A machine with seats on a moving cable that carries skiers up a slope

3 3.4

Seats hanging from a moving overhead cable that carry people up a mountain

3 6.8

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

lift bridge
  • Specialized
1 5.7

A bridge with a section that rises so ships can pass under it

lift capacity
  • Specialized
1 4.5

The most weight that a crane can raise safely

aerodynamic lift
  • Specialized
1 5.8

An upward force from moving air that holds a wing up

lift pump
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A machine that moves water from a lower place to a higher place

surface lift
  • Specialized
1 5.1

A machine that pulls skiers up a slope while they stay on the ground

1 5.1

A ski lift with a T-shaped bar that pulls skiers or snowboarders uphill as they hold it

1 5.5

A moving bar on a slope that pulls people up while they keep their skis or snowboard on

top lift
  • Specialized
8.9

The bottom part of a shoe heel that often wears away and needs replacing

How Urgent

to evacuate
370 4.1
to lift
  • Specialized
1 6.1
to fly
861 2.3
to transport
341 1.4

Surface Forms

lift infinitive
lifted past
lifted past participle
lifting present participle
lifts third person singular

Etymology

Lift for air transport comes from the idea of 'carrying up' by machine, as when a helicopter 'lifts' people into a place. So a lift by air is a way of moving people or goods up and away.