love

Less common meanings

8. 8
   letter endingnouncountable or uncountable

   A warm sign-off written before the signature of a letter, especially among friends, family, or the young.

   Her letters home always closed with 'Love' written above her name.

   The birthday card was signed 'Love, Dad' in shaky handwriting.

   UsageUsually followed by a comma before the name: Love, Sarah. Also used in lots of love, all my love, and much love.

   Note

   As a sign-off, the word is a shortened phrase, most likely With love cut down to its last word. It stands alone above the signature, as in "Love, Dad." It belongs to letters between friends and family, or to younger writers. Its warmth would read as too personal at the foot of a formal letter. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • The letter sign-off love is most likely a shortening of With love or a similar phrase. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   zero (tennis)noununcountable

   A score of zero, used in tennis and other racquet sports.

   The champion held serve to love throughout the first set.

   She trailed forty-love before mounting a comeback.

   UsageThe server's score is said first: thirty-love (server leads), love-thirty (server trails). Winning to love means the other side scored nothing.

   Similarzero, nil, nothing

   Note

   The scoring word is widely believed to come from a separate idea: doing something for love meant doing it for nothing, so love came to mean zero. In tennis it slots into the call, as in fifteen-love. A lead built without reply is "to love," as when Agassi came back from two sets to love down. Billiards uses it too. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The sporting sense probably developed from playing for love, meaning playing for nothing. en.wikipedia.org
   • Agassi came back from a two-sets-to-zero deficit. en.wikipedia.org
   • Love also occurs in billiards scoring. gutenberg.org
10. 10
    favorite thingnouncountable or uncountable

    A thing, activity, or pursuit that is the object of one's deep liking or enthusiasm.

    Painting had always been his one true love.

    The theater became the great love of her later years.

    UsageCommon in first love, one true love and the great love of someone's life.

    Similarpassion, delight, joy, obsession

    Note

    The word now names the pursuit itself, so it counts: a first love, one true love. Ebony in 1997 reports a pilot who discovered that flying was her first love, borrowing a phrase usually kept for a sweetheart. Context sorts the two meanings: when an activity is the complement, this is the reading. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Ebony in 1997 reported on a pilot who discovered that flying was her first love. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    do well withverbtransitive

    To need certain conditions or treatment and thrive on them.

    Roses love a sunny spot with rich, well-drained soil.

    Cast-iron pans love a light coat of oil after each wash.

    UsageOften followed by a condition or place: love warmth, love cold water, love a sunny spot.

    Similarneed, like, enjoy, relish

    Oppositehate, dislike

12. 12
    dear (address)nouncolloquialCommonwealthcountable or uncountable

    A friendly term of address used toward someone regardless of one's actual feelings for them.

    Take a seat, love, and I'll be right with you.

    Thanks, love, see you next week.

    UsageSaid to strangers by people serving the public: Thanks, love. It is friendly, not romantic; use it with care yourself.

    Similardarling, sweetie, mate, sweetheart, lovey

    Note

    In Britain and some other Commonwealth countries, people serving the public greet strangers this way: "Hello love, how can I help you?" The warmth is conventional, so it signals friendliness, not attachment. It sits alongside mate, lovey and sweetie.

13. 13
    heart a postverbtransitive

    To mark an online post, photo, or comment with a heart icon as a quick sign of approval.

    Three of her coworkers loved the photo within minutes of her posting it.

    The app lets you love a comment without having to write a reply.

    UsagePast forms can be unclear: she loved my post may mean she tapped the heart. Hearted is clearer.

    Similarheart

    Note

    A platform word: online, to love a post is to heart it, tapping the icon that registers approval. The past tense is where it gets ambiguous. "She loved my photos" may mean she tapped a heart, or simply that she liked them. When the click is what matters, context makes it clear, or the writer uses heart instead. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • Tapping a heart icon on an online post can register approval. help.x.com
14. 14
    have sexnouneuphemisticcountable or uncountable

    Sexual activity, especially as engaged in between partners.

    The novel describes their love in frank, physical detail.

    Exhausted from a night of love, they slept past noon.

    Similarsex, intercourse, lovemaking, intimacy, copulation

    Note

    Where the feeling of attraction covers the wanting, this one covers the act, and its delicacy invites comedy. Blackadder II (1986) gets a laugh from exactly that hesitation: "What think you, my lord, of... love?" The answer is "rumpy-pumpy." In plain prose, lovemaking or sex does the same work without the veil. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Blackadder II dates from 1986. comedy.co.uk
    • The quotation "What think you, my lord, of... love?" occurs in Blackadder II. dcs.ed.ac.uk
    • The answer refers to "rumpy-pumpy." dcs.ed.ac.uk
15. 15
    have sexverbeuphemistictransitive

    A tender, indirect way of saying to have sexual intercourse with someone.

    He loved her tenderly in the dim lamplight.

    "Come to bed and let me love you," she whispered.

    Note

    The partner is the object here, as in "love her all night long." The verb may have grown out of make love, the far more common phrase. Like the noun for sex, it softens rather than hides. It belongs to love songs and romantic fiction, while everyday talk prefers make love or sleep with.

16. 16
    without rewardnoununcountable

    The absence of payment or reward; work done for its own sake rather than for money.

    Volunteers run the shelter for love alone, expecting nothing in return.

    He restored the old organ for love, refusing any fee.

    UsageUsually used in for love, often contrasted with for money.

    Similarnothing

    Oppositemoney, pay

    Note

    It is probably the older idea behind the tennis zero. H. Rider Haggard's The Ivory Child (1916) spells it out: "I fought him for love, which is nothing at all." Because for love can also mean "out of affection," only context shows whether nothing or devotion is meant. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The unpaid-activity sense is a probable source of love meaning zero in tennis. en.wikipedia.org
    • H. Rider Haggard wrote The Ivory Child. en.wikipedia.org
    • The Ivory Child was first published in book form in 1916. en.wikipedia.org
    • The quotation is exact and occurs in The Ivory Child, spoken by Hans to Allan Quatermain. gutenberg.org
17. 17
    silk fabricnounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    A thin, semi-transparent silk fabric of fine, gauze-like weave.

    Such a kind of transparency, as that of a Sive, a piece of Cyprus, or a Love-Hood.

    1664, Robert Boyle, Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours

    Note

    A fabric name that survives only in old texts, where modern readers can easily misread it. When Robert Boyle in 1664 compares the see-through quality of a sieve, a piece of Cyprus, and a love-hood, he means a hood made of this thin silk, not anything romantic. Like Cyprus, it was a light, open textile. Today it belongs to historical reading, not to current use. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Love was a name for thin silk fabric. en.wiktionary.org
    • Robert Boyle's comparison appeared in 1664, in the first edition of Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours. christies.com
    • Boyle compares transparency to that of a sieve, a piece of Cyprus, and a love-hood. gutenberg.org
    • A love-hood was a light hood made from silk or gauze. wordnik.com
    • Cyprus was likewise a thin, translucent textile. en.wiktionary.org
18. 18
    nounrare

    A climbing plant, Clematis vitalba, known for its feathery white seed heads.