lift

LIFT/lɪft/

Verblifts, lifting, lifted

Noun plurallifts

35 meanings of lift

Practice

1
raise (objects)verbtransitive or intransitive
To pick something up or move it higher, or to rise.
Can you help me lift this heavy box onto the table?
Slowly the kite began to lift higher.
UsageNot lift a finger means do nothing to help.
Similarraise, rise, hoist, elevate, heave
Oppositelower, drop, descend
2
end a banverbtransitive
To officially end a rule that stops people from doing something.
The town will lift the curfew next week.
Officials lifted the ban on swimming at the beach.
UsageSay lift a ban on something.
Similarremove, end, rescind, revoke, repeal
Oppositeimpose, introduce
3
raise in lifeverbtransitive
To raise someone or something to a better level or position.
Hard work can lift a family out of poverty.
The new manager lifted the whole team's performance.
UsageSay lift someone out of poverty.
Similarraise, elevate, boost
Oppositelower
Note
4
elevatornounAustraliaIndiaNew ZealandUKcountable
A machine that carries people or goods up and down between the floors of a building.
Like a small room that moves up and down to carry you between floors.
We took the lift to the fifth floor.
The lift was broken, so we climbed the stairs.
UsageAmericans say elevator. You take the lift to a floor.
Similarelevator
5
raising machinenouncountable
A built-in platform that moves straight up and down to raise people or goods.
Like a flat platform that rises straight up to carry a load higher.
The school put a wheelchair lift beside the front steps.
Mechanics rolled the car onto the lift and raised it to reach underneath.
Similarhoist, elevator
6
raising movementnouncountable
A single action of raising something off the ground.
With one quick lift, he placed the box on the truck.
With one quick lift, he put the heavy box on the shelf.
Similarhoist
7
train with weightsverbcolloquialintransitive
To exercise by raising heavy weights.
He lifts at the gym three times a week.
I started to lift last year to get stronger.
8
car ridenouncountable
A free ride that someone gives you in their car.
Can you give me a lift to the station?
She offered him a lift home after the meeting.
UsageSay give someone a lift to a place.
Similarride
Note
9
upward forcenoununcountable
The upward push that keeps an airplane in the air.
Like the way wind pushes up under a kite and holds it in the sky.
The plane's wings create lift as it speeds down the runway.
Without enough lift, the aircraft cannot leave the ground.
10
ease stressverbtransitive
To make a bad feeling like stress or worry less heavy.
A few kind words can lift someone's worry.
The phone call from her son lifted a weight off her mind.
Similarease, relieve, reduce, dispel, lighten
Oppositeincrease, heighten, intensify
11
happy feelingnounfigurativelyusually singular
A boost that makes you feel happier.
Like sunshine breaking through clouds and making the day feel brighter.
The good news gave everyone a real lift.
A walk in the sunshine always gives me a lift.
UsageSay give someone a lift or get a lift from something.
Similarboost, fillip
Note
12
upward slopenouncountable
A rise or an upward slope in something.
Like a small bump that rises up in the ground.
There was a gentle lift in the road as it neared the hill.
You could feel a slight lift in the floor near the doorway.
Similarrise, incline, ascent, elevation
Oppositedip, drop, descent
13
copy textverbslangtransitive
To copy someone else's work and use it as your own.
He lifted whole paragraphs from a website for his essay.
Don't lift other people's words without saying where they came from.
UsageSay lift words from a book or website.
Similarcopy, plagiarize, crib, borrow
Note

Less common meanings

14
loadnouncountable
The weight or load that has to be raised.
The crane could not handle such a heavy lift.
This crane can handle a lift of five tons.
Similarload, weight
15
stealverbslangtransitive
To steal, or take something that is not yours.
Like quietly taking a cookie from the jar when no one is looking.
Someone lifted my wallet on the crowded bus.
He tried to lift a candy bar from the store.
Similarsteal, pinch, swipe, nick, pilfer
Note
16
dance movenouncountable
In dance, the move where one partner raises the other up into the air.
Like raising a small child up high to see over a fence.
The crowd cheered when he held the lift for several seconds.
Their final lift looked smooth and graceful.
Note
17
upward distancenouncountable or uncountable
How far up something is raised, such as how high a canal lock raises a boat.
Like how high you raise a bucket from the floor up to a shelf.
The crane has a lift of about thirty feet.
Our car jack only gives about ten inches of lift.
Similarrise
18
arrestverbslangtransitive
To catch and take away a person, the way police do.
The police lifted him outside the bar last night.
They came to lift the suspect at dawn.
UsagePeople often say someone was lifted.
Similararrest, nab, collar, detain
Oppositerelease
Note
19
nounobsoletehistoricalcountable
A thief, especially someone who steals from pockets.
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 UnderworldHere, lift means a thief who steals from shops or pockets.
Similarthief, pickpocket
Note
20
nounrare
The hinged door at the back of a vehicle that opens upward.
21
verbdialectal
To collect money that is owed, or to gather it together.
22
verb
To buy something, such as shares, that was put up for sale.
23
noun
A short clip taken from a longer ad that can be used by itself.
24
noun
One of the thin layers of leather stacked together to build a shoe's heel.
25
noun
On a ship, a rope from the top of the mast that helps hold up the end of a yard.
26
verb
To take hunting dogs off a scent and move them to a new place.
27
noun
In advanced math, a step that, followed by a second given step, gives the same result as an original step.
28
verbdialectalScotland
To break up and move apart, like a crowd leaving at the end of a party.
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 something up or carry it.
Th' earth him underneath Did grone, as feeble so great load to lift.
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
30
verb
In math, to find a map that, followed by one given map, equals another.
31
verb
In math or coding, to change a function so it works in a new setting.
32
noun
One step on a pulley made of wheels of different sizes.
33
noun
In a watch, the moment in the balance's swing when it gets pushed.
34
noundialectalScotlandUK
The air around you.
35
noundialectalScotlandUK
The sky.

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 Old Norse lypta, meaning to raise something into the air. The word for stealing may be linked to an old Gothic word for 'thief,' or may simply come from lifting something off a surface.