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to live

to live

∞ 1.9
To have a particular way of life
  • verb
  • /lɪv/
: vivir
  • And don't we all want to live in a better world?
  • live life
  • learn to live
  • live independently

I know it's true, and I try to live in that knowledge.

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Examples

  • I just want to live with her.

  • To truly be happy, you need to live by your own values and beliefs.

  • What do they, what rules do they live by in their lives?

  • But but you want to live on your terms.

  • It's about the way we choose to live our lives.

  • Give yourself the freedom to live a meaningful life.

  • I know it's true, and I try to live in that knowledge.

  • And what's important is to live life to the fullest.

  • Teenagers here are treated as adults, marrying young and living much as their ancestors did.

    Academic text (2011)
  • She would be able to live her life as she chooses.

Synonyms

to experience
vsto live
∞ 2.1

To feel something while it happens to you

includes having a particular lifestyle or supporting oneself too
to live on
vsto live
165 3.2

To survive by using a certain food or money

also means having a particular lifestyle or going through situations more widely
to survive
vsto live
103 2.7

Manage to live on very little money

also covers having a particular lifestyle or going through situations generally
to subsist
vsto live
11 7.2

Manage to live with very little food or money

covers broader ways of life and going through situations beyond minimal coping

Idioms

39 4.2

To have the life you always wanted after hard work

to live a lie
  • Informal
26 7.2

To hide the truth about yourself by pretending something else is true

19 7.4

Lead a life full of risk and excitement by doing dangerous things

17 4.8

To be very excited about something and always make it a main part of life

To have a happy, full life and treat others well

10 8.4

A couple who live together and have sex without being married, often seen as wrong by some people

6 8.0

Not knowing things most people know

6 7.2

To depend completely on a belief or rule

5 7.5

A shout showing support and wishing the king a long life

3 8.2

Have a very comfortable life with lots of money

To be less known or important because someone else is more famous

People who use violence are likely to die violently

To live very simply and avoid extra comforts

To stay constantly in someone's thoughts and annoy them

the live one
  • Informal
8.6

A person who makes others laugh and enjoy themselves

Phrasal Verbs

684 3.9

To accept something unpleasant that you cannot change

222 3.5

To meet what people expect of you

202 2.7

To share a home with a romantic partner without being married

165 3.2

To survive by using a certain food or money

117 3.2

To continue to exist after a dangerous or difficult time

109 3.9

Rely on someone, a job, or savings for the food and money you need

87 3.7

To spend the rest of your life in a place or way you want

to live it up
  • Informal
28 7.2

Enjoy yourself in a lively, often expensive way at parties or restaurants

19 7.7

Make people forget or forgive a past mistake over time

Act, sing, or play in front of people right then, not from a recording

to live large
  • Informal
13 8.2

Enjoy yourself by spending a lot on expensive things and fun

To keep thinking about the past and miss what is happening now

to live out
  • Jargon
3 3.9

To work in someone's home and return to your own home each day

3 3.7

To stay and sleep where you work, usually in your employer's house

To stay in a very small dirty house that has few comforts

Continue without knowing what will happen next

1 8.6

A thought that stays in your mind and bothers you

To feel comfort by remembering happy times from the past

1 3.0

Send a program as it happens on radio or TV

Compounds

real live
  • Informal
56 3.9

Present in person and not imaginary

31 1.6

Music played in front of people, not from a recording

live birth
  • Specialized
11 3.5

A baby born showing any sign of life

7 3.4

A person or animal that is not dead

6 6.0

A large tree with green leaves all year that grows in the southern United States

live wire
  • Specialized
6 4.1

A wire that is carrying electric current and is dangerous to touch

live wire
  • Informal
3 4.6

A person who is very lively and full of energy

2 2.3

Musicians play jazz music for people at a place not from a recording

California live oak
  • Specialized
1 8.2

An evergreen oak tree with small, thick, spiny dark green leaves that grows on the coast of California

live steam
  • Specialized
1 7.9

Steam at full pressure from a boiler used to run engines or machines

An evergreen tree from the southern United States with wide, spreading branches and very hard wood

coast live oak
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A short bushy evergreen tree that grows along the west coast of North America with small thick spiny leaves

1 7.8

A small brightly colored fish that gives birth to young that can swim when born

live axle
  • Specialized
1 6.5

A bar under a vehicle that sends engine power to the wheels

1 8.3

A medium-sized evergreen oak tree with leathery spiny-edged leaves that grows in dry canyons in southwestern US and northwestern Mexico

1 9.6

A small hardy plant with thick leaves that forms low clusters and small purple and white flowers

live load
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A weight on a structure that changes, like people or vehicles

live-and-die
  • Australian
9.9

A small bush from the tropics whose leaves fold when touched and that has sharp thorns

interior live oak
  • Specialized
9.3

An evergreen tree with thick leaves that grows in dry hills of western North America

A music show you go to in person

A medicine taken by mouth that contains three weakened live polio viruses to protect against polio

How Comfortable

to thrive
233 3.2
to live
∞ 1.9
to get by
128 3.1
struggle
417 3.2

Surface Forms

live infinitive
lived past
lived past participle
living present participle
lives third person singular

Etymology

Live comes from an old English word life meaning 'life'. To live a certain way or to live on money is to have a particular 'life' or means of support, so the word links what you do to keep life going.