# live

Pronunciation: say "LIV" /lɪv/

## Verb

1. To reside, or have one's home in a place, with in, at, on, or near.
   - Simple: To have your home in a place, to reside there.
   - _Where do you live now?_
   - _He lives with his parents._
2. To pass one's life in a particular way, or to lead a particular kind of life.
   - Simple: To spend your life in a certain way, or to have a certain kind of life.
   - _She has always tried to live honestly, even when it cost her._
   - _He lived beyond his means._
4. To be alive, or to remain alive, especially by surviving a danger.
   - Simple: To be alive, or to stay alive when you might have died.
   - _As long as I live, I'll never forget it._
   - _He lived another twenty years after the diagnosis._
8. To subsist, or keep oneself alive on a food, an income, or a means, with on, upon, or by.
   - Simple: To get the food or money you need to stay alive, as in live on bread.
   - _The family lives on one small salary._
   - _Owls live on mice and voles._
9. To continue to exist or be remembered, often long after its own time.
   - Simple: To go on existing, or to keep being remembered, for a long time.
   - _Their language lives only in a few songs now._
   - _Such ideas rarely live long._
10. To accept or put up with something unwelcome (followed by with), or to manage without something (followed by without).
   - Simple: To put up with something you do not like (live with it), or to manage without something (live without it).
   - _Can you live with the decision?_
   - _She couldn't live without her phone._
13. Of an object, to have its usual place, or be kept somewhere. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Of a thing, to be kept in a certain place, an informal use.
   - _The tools live in the shed._
   - _The cat's bowl lives by the back door._
14. To get out and taste fully what life offers. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To really enjoy life, to do exciting things, an informal use.
   - _She finally feels like she's living._
   - _Get out there and live._
27. To act consistently in keeping with a belief, value, or practice, so that one's way of life shows it.
   - Simple: To follow a belief, rule, or idea in the way you act every day.
   - _Leaders who preach honesty have to live it, or no one will believe them._
   - _For forty years the couple lived their faith quietly, through service rather than sermons._

## Adjective

Pronunciation: say "LYV" /laɪv/

3. Of music or a performance, given in person before an audience, or recorded at such a performance.
   - Simple: Played or done in front of people who are there, not recorded in a studio.
   - _The bar has live jazz every Friday night, so book a table early._
   - _The festival books only live acts._
5. Alive; used only before a noun.
   - Simple: Alive, used before a noun, as in live animals.
   - _They import live lobsters from Maine._
   - _Live plants need light and water._
6. Of a broadcast, going out as it happens rather than recorded in advance.
   - Simple: Shown or sent out on TV, radio, or the internet as it is happening.
   - _The network interrupted its usual schedule for live coverage of the election results._
   - _A live broadcast leaves no room for mistakes._
12. Of a system, site, or process, operational and in real use, as against a test, staging, or demo version.
   - Simple: In real use, working for real customers rather than being tested.
   - _Once the feature is live, we can't roll it back easily._
   - _They tested for a month before going live._
15. In film and television, performed by real people rather than drawn or computer-animated, chiefly before action or actors.
   - Simple: In film, using real actors, not animation, as in live action.
   - _The sequel mixes live actors with animated characters in almost every scene._
   - _Unlike the cartoon it was based on, the new movie uses live actors in every role._
16. Of a wire, terminal, or circuit, connected to a source of electricity and so dangerous to touch, whether or not current is flowing.
   - Simple: Of a wire, connected to electricity and able to give you a shock if you touch it.
   - _The electrician checked whether the fuse box was live._
   - _A live wire lay across the wet road._
17. Of ammunition or explosives, real and ready to detonate, not blanks or dummies.
   - Simple: Of a bullet or bomb, real and able to go off, not a blank or a dummy.
   - _The movie set used blanks, never live rounds._
   - _Bomb disposal treated the device as live._
18. Of issues, options, and examples, actual and existing here and now rather than imagined or past.
   - Simple: Real and present, actually existing, as in a live example.
   - _Independence remains a live question there._
   - _Several live options are still on the table._
19. Of a party, crowd, or scene, outstanding, exhilarating, and full of energy; used after a verb. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Really exciting or excellent, a slang use, as in the party was live.
   - _The crowd was live from the first song._
   - _Friday nights there are always live._
20. Of viruses, cultures, yeast, or chemicals, active and retaining working properties; not killed, spent, or inactivated.
   - Simple: Still active and able to work or do harm, as in a live virus.
   - _The lab handles only live samples._
   - _Is the culture still live?_
21. In engineering, of a shaft, spindle, or axle, driven and turning, carrying power to the work or the wheels.
   - Simple: In machines, turning or driving, as in a live axle that carries power.
   - _The rear axle is live, the front one dead._
   - _Only the live roller is powered._
22. Of coals, embers, or a cigarette end, burning or glowing and able to start a fire.
   - Simple: Still burning or glowing, as in live coals.
   - _She raked the live coals together._
   - _One live spark is enough in this wind._
23. In sports, of a ball or a play, still in action under the rules, not yet dead or whistled: the fumble is live, the play stays live until the referee stops it.
   - Simple: In sports, still in play, so that the game goes on with it.
   - _The fumble was live, and anyone could recover it._
   - _The players stopped, thinking the play was over, but the ball was still live and the other team scored._
24. In card games, of a card, still undealt and unplayed, so that it may yet come.
   - Simple: In card games, of a card, still in the deck and not yet played.
   - _If the ace is live, the draw is worth the call._
   - _Three live hearts remained._
25. Of feathers or down, plucked from a bird that was alive at the time rather than gathered at slaughter.
   - Simple: Taken from an animal while it was alive, as in live feathers.
26. In audio, of a room or space, reverberant, reflecting sound so that it rings on.
   - Simple: Of a room, echoing, so that sounds ring on after they are made.
   - _They hung curtains to make the studio less live._
   - _Drums sound huge in a live room._

## Adverb

Pronunciation: say "LYV" /laɪv/

7. In real time, as an event happens, of broadcasting or streaming.
   - Simple: As it happens, at the same time as the event, as in broadcast live.
   - _We'll bring you the result live at nine._
   - _The debate goes out live tonight._
11. In person before an audience, of performing or speaking.
   - Simple: In person, in front of an audience, as in appearing live.
   - _The orchestra will perform the piece live for the first time._
   - _Hearing it live is a different thing._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To spend one's life as a particular kind of person, as in she lived and died a pauper.
- (adjective) In programming, of a variable or value, still possibly needed by code that has yet to run.
- (adjective) In poker, of a bet such as a blind or a straddle, leaving the player who posted it free to raise when action returns.
- (adjective) Bright and vivid in color.
- (adjective) Lively, alert, and full of energy.
- (adjective) In Thai, Burmese and similar languages, of a syllable ending in a sound that can be prolonged, such as a long vowel or a nasal, rather than stopping sharply.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 4, 8–10, 13–14, 27** — Old English lifian or libban ("to live, be alive") became Middle English lyven or libben. Its earlier forms are Proto-West Germanic *libbjan and Proto-Germanic *libjaną, and its deepest root is Proto-Indo-European *leyp- ("leave, cling, linger"). Dutch leven, German leben, Swedish leva and Gothic liban, all meaning "to live", are relatives.
**Meanings 3, 5–7, 11–12, 15–26** — An aphetic (shortened) form of alive.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/live (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).