lift

LIFT/lɪft/

Verblifts, lifting, lifted

Noun plurallifts

35 meanings of lift

Practice

1
raise (objects)verbtransitive or intransitive
To raise something or someone to a higher position, or to try to do so with effort; also, to rise or move upward.
It took two of us to lift the sofa onto the back of the truck.
Hot air makes a balloon lift off the ground.
UsageSet phrase: not lift a finger, meaning do nothing to help.
Similarraise, rise, hoist, elevate, heave
Oppositelower, drop, descend
2
end a banverbtransitive
To remove or end a ban, restriction, or similar rule.
The government decided to lift the trade restrictions.
Authorities lifted the travel ban after the storm passed.
UsageGoes with ban, curfew, sanctions and restrictions: lift a ban on swimming.
Similarremove, end, rescind, revoke, repeal
Oppositeimpose, introduce
3
raise in lifeverbtransitive
To raise someone or something to a higher rank, condition, or status, often with up.
Education can lift people into better careers.
The reforms lifted the region out of decades of decline.
UsageOften lift someone out of poverty or decline, into something better, or lift someone up.
Similarraise, elevate, boost
Oppositelower
Note
Addison's Cato (1713) has the Roman virtues lift up mortal man. The King James Bible of 1611 turns it around with being lifted up with pride, where elevation means arrogance rather than improvement. Modern use keeps the hopeful side, as in lifted out of decline, and often drops the up.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Joseph Addison wrote Cato, first published in 1713. gutenberg.ca
Cato contains the quoted wording, spoken by Juba in Act I, scene IV. gutenberg.ca
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. neh.gov
The King James Bible contains 'being lifted up with pride', describing harmful arrogance, in 1 Timothy 3:6. en.wikisource.org
4
elevatornounAustraliaIndiaNew ZealandUKcountable
A mechanical device that vertically transports people or goods between the floors of a building.
Take the lift to the third floor and turn left.
The office building has six lifts serving twenty floors.
UsageIn North America the usual word is elevator. Say take the lift to a floor, or take the elevator to a floor.
Similarelevator
5
raising machinenouncountable
A permanent installation with a built-in platform that moves vertically to raise or lower people or goods.
The garage installed a lift strong enough to raise a full-size truck for repairs.
The mechanic raised the car on the hydraulic lift so he could work underneath it.
Similarhoist, elevator
6
raising movementnouncountable
An instance of raising or hoisting something to a higher position.
It took four movers and one slow, steady lift to get the piano onto the stage.
The weightlifter's final lift earned him the gold medal.
Similarhoist
7
train with weightsverbcolloquialintransitive
To train by raising heavy weights as a form of exercise.
She lifts every morning before work.
Athletes who lift regularly build serious muscle.
8
car ridenouncountable
An instance of carrying someone in a vehicle; a ride.
He gave his neighbor a lift to the airport.
Thanks for the lift, because I would have missed the train otherwise.
UsageUsually give or offer someone a lift to a place: a lift home, a lift to the station.
Similarride
Note
In Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt (1913), Summerlee offers the narrator a lift to Victoria in his motor-car.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Poison Belt. en.wikisource.org
The Poison Belt was first published in 1913. gutenberg.net.au
Summerlee offers the narrator a lift to Victoria in his motor-car. en.wikisource.org
9
upward forcenoununcountable
The upward force generated by wings, rotors, or airfoils that keeps an aircraft in the air.
Engineers shaped the wing to maximize lift at low speeds.
The helicopter's rotors generate lift by pushing air downward.
10
ease stressverbtransitive
To ease or reduce something such as pressure, tension, or stress.
The good news lifted the tension in the room.
Counseling helped lift the stress she had carried for months.
Similarease, relieve, reduce, dispel, lighten
Oppositeincrease, heighten, intensify
11
happy feelingnounfigurativelyusually singular
A rise in someone's mood or spirits; a feeling of renewed cheer or encouragement.
Her visit gave the patients a much-needed lift.
The team got a lift from the crowd's cheering.
UsageUsually give someone a lift or get a lift from something; words like spirits make the mood sense clear.
Similarboost, fillip
Note
A 2012 BBC Sport report has a dismissal giving the home players and fans a noticeable lift. In Anne Baker's With a Little Luck, a man needs a lift because his job is dull.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
A 2012 BBC Sport report describes a dismissal giving the home players and fans a noticeable lift. bbc.com
In With a Little Luck, a man needs a lift because his job is dull. en.wiktionary.org
12
upward slopenouncountable
A rise; a slight increase in height or elevation.
The path had a noticeable lift before leveling off at the ridge.
A small lift in the terrain marked the old riverbank.
Similarrise, incline, ascent, elevation
Oppositedip, drop, descent
13
copy textverbslangtransitive
To copy material directly from a source and use it without giving credit.
The journalist lifted several lines from a press release.
Students who lift passages from the internet risk failing.
UsageUsually lift something from a source, often directly from it.
Similarcopy, plagiarize, crib, borrow
Note
Copying gets the same light verb as stealing, and the image is the same: words picked up and carried off. James Lambert, writing in 2018 on Anglo-Indian slang in historical dictionaries, says Hotten had lifted an entry directly from an earlier source.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
James Lambert published an article on Anglo-Indian slang in historical dictionaries in 2018. repository.nie.edu.sg
Lambert says Hotten lifted an entry directly from an earlier source. repository.nie.edu.sg

Less common meanings

14
loadnouncountable
The amount or weight that is to be raised or hoisted.
Because the lift was nearly twenty tons, the crew brought in a second crane.
A lift of two tons required the larger crane.
Similarload, weight
15
stealverbslangtransitive
To steal something, especially by taking it quietly or casually.
She lifted a scarf from the boutique without paying.
Pickpockets lift phones from distracted tourists.
Similarsteal, pinch, swipe, nick, pilfer
Note
Rudyard Kipling's The Ballad of East and West (1889) has a border raider who has lifted the Colonel's mare, and the light verb makes the raid sound almost casual. The old thieves' noun to go with it is a word for the thief himself.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Rudyard Kipling wrote The Ballad of East and West. en.wikipedia.org
The poem was first published in 1889. kiplingsociety.co.uk
The poem describes a border raider stealing the Colonel's mare, using the verb lifted. en.wikisource.org
Lift is also an old slang noun meaning a thief. en.wiktionary.org
16
dance movenouncountable
A move in which a dancer raises their partner up off the floor and into the air.
The pair rehearsed the overhead lift until it felt completely secure.
The crowd gasped when he raised his partner over his head in a perfect lift.
Note
A named figure in partnered dance and in sports built on partnering. One dancer leaves the floor and is held aloft before being set down. Lifts are counted and rehearsed as distinct moves, so the noun readily takes modifiers like overhead. The dancer who supports the lift is the base, and the one raised is the flyer.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Lifts are recognized elements in partnered dance and partnering sports, involving raising, sustaining and lowering a partner. en.wikipedia.org
Lifts are counted as distinct moves. image.aausports.org
Dancers train and practise lifts separately. image.aausports.org
The supporting performer is called the base and the raised performer the flyer. ecacheer.org
17
upward distancenouncountable or uncountable
The vertical distance through which something is raised, such as the difference in water level by which a canal lock raises or lowers a boat.
Engineers measured the lift of the platform from its resting position.
The jack provides only a few inches of lift at a time.
Similarrise
18
arrestverbslangtransitive
To arrest someone; to take a person into police custody.
Officers lifted two men in connection with the robbery.
They planned to lift the ringleader before he could flee.
UsageOften passive: he was lifted by the police.
Similararrest, nab, collar, detain
Oppositerelease
Note
In Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland's Troubles (2000), Marie Smyth and Marie-Therese Fay record a man who had been lifted three or four times before. The police would raid the house and take him away.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland's Troubles was first published in 2000. api.pageplace.de
Marie Smyth and Marie-Therese Fay edited the collection. api.pageplace.de
The collection records a man having previously been lifted three or four times. en.wiktionary.org
The account describes police raiding the house and taking him away. en.wiktionary.org
19
nounobsoletehistoricalcountable
A thief; especially a pickpocket or petty robber.
The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.
1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld
Similarthief, pickpocket
Note
Gamini Salgado's The Elizabethan Underworld (1977) describes the lift's method. He entered a shop dressed like a country gentleman and wore no cloak, so the tradesman could see he had nowhere to hide goods.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Salgado describes a lift entering a shop disguised as a country gentleman, without a cloak, to appear unable to conceal goods. en.wiktionary.org
20
nounrare
A rear door or panel on a vehicle, hinged at the top, that swings upward to allow loading.
21
verbdialectal
To collect money that is due; to raise funds.
22
verb
To buy a security or other asset that had been offered for sale.
23
noun
A shorter extract from a commercial that can stand on its own as a separate spot.
24
noun
A layer of leather forming part of the built-up heel of a shoe.
25
noun
A rope running from the masthead to the end of a yard, used to raise or support that end.
26
verb
To take hounds off the scent they are following and move them to another spot.
27
noun
In category theory, a morphism through which a given morphism factors, so that the original map equals a second morphism composed with it.
28
verbdialectalScotland
To break up and scatter, as a gathering does when the people in it go their separate ways.
About three o'clock in the mornin', the company began to lift, and the room to get thinner and thinner.
1832, The Day
29
verbobsolete
To hold up or carry the weight of something.
Th' earth him underneath Did grone, as feeble so great load to lift.
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
30
verb
In category theory, given two morphisms ending at the same object, to find a third morphism through which the first factors via the second.
31
verb
In mathematics and programming, to turn a function into a matching function that works in a broader or different setting.
32
noun
Any of the stepped wheels of different sizes that a belt can run on in a stepped pulley.
33
noun
In a watch, the part of the balance wheel's swing during which it receives its push from the escapement.
34
noundialectalScotlandUK
The air around us.
35
noundialectalScotlandUK
The sky above, the vault of the heavens.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of lift apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English liften, from Old Norse lypta ('to lift'), literally 'to raise in the air', from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną, related to a root meaning 'roof' or 'air', and perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- ('to peel, break off'). It is related to German lüften and Swedish lyfta. The noun sense of a mechanical device for vertical transport dates from 1851, and the 'to steal' sense may be tied to a root meaning 'thief' (compare Greek kléptō).

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 9 facts

English lift comes through Middle English liften from Old Norse lypta. fr.wiktionary.org
Old Norse lypta means 'to lift' and derives from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną. en.wiktionary.org
The literal etymological meaning is raising something into the air. en.wiktionary.org
The Germanic base has meanings including 'roof' and 'air'. en.wiktionary.org
A proposed deeper origin is Proto-Indo-European *lewp-, meaning 'to peel, break off'. en.wiktionary.org
Lift is related to German lüften. en.wiktionary.org
Lift is related to Swedish lyfta. en.wiktionary.org
The mechanical vertical-transport noun sense is dated to 1851. en.wiktionary.org
A connection between the stealing sense and the root of Gothic hliftus 'thief', compared with Greek kléptō, has been proposed. en.wiktionary.org