life 
Byes of intense life looking out from a weary, beaten 
face. George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, vii. 0. 
14. An animating force or influence ; anything 
that quickens or enlivens; a source of vital 
energy, happiness, or enjoyment; hence, that 
which is dear as life (in this sense often used 
as an epithet of endearment) : as, he was the 
life of the company ; his books were his life. 
That is the only place of Trade in the Country, and Trade 
is the Life of a Chinese. Dampier, Voyages, II. i. 15. 
And Deborah, my life, grief, you know, is dry ; let us have 
a bottle of the best gooseberry-wine. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, xvii. 
15. The living form and expression; hence, 
reality in appearance or representation; living 
semblance ; actual likeness : as, to draw from 
the life; he looks the character to the life. 
There was never counterfeit of passion came so near the 
life of passion. Shak., Much Ado, ii. 3. 110. 
I would your lordship did but see how well 
This fury doth become you ! it doth shew 
So near the life as it were natural. 
Beau, and Fl., Woman-Hater, Ii. 1. 
The Ecce Homo, shut up in a frame of velvet, for the life 
and accurate finishing exceeding all description. 
Evelyn, Diary, March 1, 1644. 
16. An insurance on a person's life; a life-in- 
surance policy. 
He renewed two lines which had dropped. 
Mrs. Henry Wood, The Channings, I. 243. 
A case or matter of life and death, an extremely criti- 
cal or pressing case, as one in which life is at stake. Breth- 
ren and Clerks of the Common Life. See brother. 
Canonical life. See canonical. Change of life. See 
change. Equal decrement Of life, see decrement. 
Expectation of life. See expectation. For life, (a) 
For the whole term of one's existence : as, a pension far 
lift ; estate for life ; imprisonment for life, (o) So as to 
save, or as if to save, one's life : as, to run for life; to swim 
for life. 
As from a bear a man would run for life. 
Shak., C. of E., iii. 2. 168. 
High life. See high. In life, in the world. [Colloq.] 
" Hallo ! " responded that gentleman, looking over the 
side of the chaise with all the coolness in. life. 
Dickens, Pickwick, 1. 
Life annuity. See annuity. Life or lives In being, 
in law, a phrase used in limiting the power of grantor or 
testator to suspend the absolute power of alienation of 
property, the general policy of modern law being that such 
power shall not be suspended by putting property in trust 
or otherwise except for a period expressly limited so as 
to expire on the decease of the last survivor of specified 
persons in being at the time the will or deed takes effect. 
In some jurisdictions the limit is two lives or three lives. 
Life Of an execution, the period prescribed by law 
or by the terms of an execution within which it ought to 
be returned to the court. Line Of life. See Kne2. Or- 
ganic life, (a) That life which is common to all organized 
beings, as animals and plants ; life in an ordinary sense. 
(6) That life which belongs properly to the most vital or- 
gans, as the heart, brain, or lungs: distinguished from the 
more vegetative life of the organs of nutrition, for example, 
whose functions may be temporarily suspended without 
causing death. Still life, in art. See still-life. To bring 
to life, to restore (that which is apparently dead); revive ; 
resuscitate. To come to life, to revive as from appa- 
rent death ; be reanimated : as, a drooping plant comes to 
life in water. TO tne life, so as closely to resemble the 
original, as a picture; hence, exactly; perfectly: as, a por- 
trait drawn to the life. [Life is used in a number of com- 
pounds the meaning of which in most cases is sufficiently 
obvious; as, J^e-consuming, Zt/e-preserving, etc.] = Syn. 
Animation, Life, liveliness, etc. See animation. 
life (Hf), interj. An abbreviation of God's 
life, used as an oath: an interjection of impa- 
tience. 
Life ! had she none to gull but poor promoters ? 
Sliddleton, Chaste Maid, ii. 2. 
She once had past that way ; he heard her speak ; 
She scared him : life ! he never saw the like. 
Tennyson, Princess, i. 
life-and-death (Hf'and-deth'), a. Noting a 
matter of life or death; critical; desperate. 
The life-and-death struggle between the King and the 
Commons. New Princeton Rev., IV. 145. 
life-arrow (lif'ar'6), n. An arrow carrying a 
line or cord, fired from a gun for the purpose 
of establishing communication between a ves- 
sel and the shore in cases of shipwreck. The 
arrow-head has large barbs, so that it may read- 
ily catch in the ship's rigging. 
life-belt (Hf belt), . An inflatable belt, gen- 
erally of india-rubber, or a belt made of several 
pieces of cork fastened together, used to sup- 
port the body in the water. 
life-blood (lif'blud), TO. and a. I. . 1. The 
blood necessary to life ; vital blood. 
Patient the sickening victim eyed 
The life-Hood- ebb in crimson tide 
Down his clogg'd beard and shaggy limb. 
Scott, L. of the L., iii. 8. 
2. That which is essential to the existence 
or strength of something; that which consti- 
tutes or gives strength and energy. Also life's- 
blood, or, preferably, life's blood. 
3442 
Sick now ! droop now ! this sickness doth infect 
The very life-blood of our enterprise. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iv. 1. 29. 
Begone, sweet life-blood ; if I should discern 
Thyself but touched for my sake, I should die. 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, iv. (i. 
3. In pathol., the more or less constant spas- 
modic quivering of the eyelid or lip : also called 
life's-blood, live-blood, and eillo. 
That curious muscular sensation or quiver, to which the 
vulgar give the name of live blood. 
B. W. Richardson, Diseases of Modern Life, p. 163. 
II. a. Necessary as blood to life ; essential. 
[Rare.] 
These devout prelates ... set at nought and trample 
under foot all the most sacred and life-blood Laws, Stat- 
utes, and Acts of Parliament. 
Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
life-boat (lif'bot), re. A boat constructed for 
the special purpose of saving life at sea in 
stormy weather, especially in case of shipwreck. 
Life-boats are sharp at both ends, and those carried by 
ships are light and strong, and of great buoyancy, obtained 
either by air-chambers of metal or by cork cylinders un- 
der the thwarts. On the coasts of the United States and 
Great Britain and of some other countries, life-boats are 
stationed at intervals along the shore, to assist ship- 
wrecked seamen. These boats vary in construction, ac- 
cording to the nature of the coast. On the sandy sea-coast 
of the United States a light surf-boat is used, while on the 
shores of the British Isles and on the great American lakes 
a much heavier boat is in common use. 
life-breath (lif'breth), . The breath of life; 
that which imparts or sustains life; a vivify ing 
principle or agency. [Rare.] 
The functions of the staff are the army's life-breath. 
N. A. Rev., CXXVI. 454. 
life-buoy (lif'boi), . See buoy, 2. 
life-car (lif 'kar), . A water-tight chamber 
used for conveying people ashore from a wreck. 
Connection between the shore and the ship is established 
by means of a line-throwing gun, and the car is drawn 
backward and forward along a guide-rope by means of 
cords manned on the wrecked vessel and on shore. 
life-cord (lif'kdrd), n. Same as lifestring. 
And to the brain, the soul's bed-chamber, went, 
And gnaw'd the life-cords there. 
Donne, Progress of the SoiU. 
life-cycle (lifsi'kl), . The whole cycle or se- 
ries of vital phenomena exhibited by an organ- 
ism in its successive stages of development 
from the ovum ; life-history. 
life-dayt (lif'da), . [ME. lyfe-day, lyf-day, lif- 
dag, < AS. lydteg, lifetime, < lif, life, + dceg, 
day, period.] Lifetime. 
Prestes hue menteyneth 
To holde lemmanes and lotebyes al here lif-dayes. 
Piers Plowman (C), iv. 188. 
life-drop (lif 'drop), . A vital drop ; a drop of 
one's heart's blood. 
Thou know'st my deeds, my breast devoid of fear, 
And hostile life-drops dim my gory spear. 
Byron, Nisus and Euryalus, Paraphrase from jEneid, ix. 
life-estate (lif 'es-taf), n. An estate the tenure 
of which is measured by the duration of a life. 
See estate for life, under estate. 
life-everlasting (Hf'ev-er-las // ting), re. Cud- 
weed or everlasting ; the species of the genus 
Gnaphalium. 
lifeful (lif 'ful), a. [< life + -ful.'] 1. Full of 
life; lively. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Tiberios life-full eyes and well-Hid vaines. 
Marston, The Fawne, i. 2. 
Thus he lifeful spake. Keats, Endymion, i. 
2. Giving life. 
Like liifM heat to nummed senses brought 
Spenser, F. Q., VL xi. 45. 
life-giving (lif 'giv'ing), a. Giving life or spirit ; 
having power to revivify or animate ; inspirit- 
ing; invigorating. 
Nor on the virtue thought 
Of that life-giving plant, but only used 
For prospect what well used had been the pledge 
Of immortality. Milton, P. L., iv. 199. 
life-guard (lif'gard), n. [= G. leibgarde = Sw. 
Uf garde = Dan. Imgarde, body-guard.] 1. A 
guard of the life or person ; a guard that attends 
a prince or other person ; a body-guard. In the 
British army the name Life Guards is given to two caval- 
ry regiments forming, with the Royal Horse Guards, the 
Household Brigade, the body-guard of the sovereign. 
And he's kill'd a' the king's life guards, 
He's kill'd them every man O. 
Sweet Willie and Lady Margene (Child's Ballads, II. 54). 
2. Brushes or some other device placed before 
the forward wheels of a locomotive to sweep 
small obstructions from the track, 
life-history (lif'his"to-ri), . Inbiol.: (a) The 
series of vital phenomena exhibited by an or- 
ganism in the course of its development from 
the egg to its adult state. The word refers espe- 
life-plant 
cially to embryological and subsequent transformations or 
metamorphoses, if any occur. It incidentally includes the 
habits, manners, etc., of an organism during the period of 
its development. 
The life-history of such an imaginary individual, that is 
to say, would correspond with all that was new, all that 
could be called evolution or development, in a certain 
typical series of individuals each of whom advanced a cer- 
tain stage in mental differentiation. 
J. Ward, Encyc. Brit., XX, 45. 
(6) The written description of a life-history; 
morphological "natural history." 
life-hold (lif'hold), B. Same as life-land. 
life-insurance (Uf in-shor*ans), n. See insur- 
ance, 1. 
life-interest (lif'm"ter-est), n. An interest or 
estate terminating with the life of the person 
to whom it belongs. 
life-land (lif 'land), n. Land held on a lease 
for a life or lives. Also called life-hold. 
lifeless (lif'les), a. [< ME. lifles, < AS. Kfteds 
(= OFries. liflas = MLG. liflds = Sw. liflos = 
Dan. lirlos) (cf. equiv. D. levenloos, MHG. lebe- 
los, G. leblos, involving another but related 
noun), lifeless, < lif, life, + leas, E. -less.] 1. 
Deprived of life ; dead ; also, in a state of sus- 
pended animation. 
There let his head and lifeless body lie, 
Until the queen his mistress bury it. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 1. 142. 
2. Not possessing lif e ; inanimate; inorganic: 
as, lifeless matter. 
Was I to have never parted from thy side? 
As good have grown there still a lifeless rib. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 1164. 
3. Destitute of power, force, vigor, or spirit ; 
wanting animation or vital energy; dull; 
heavy; inactive; vapid; insipid: as, a lifeless 
style of oratory ; lifeless movements. 
Description cannot suit itself in words 
To demonstrate the life of such a battle [army] 
In life so lifeless as it shows itself. 
SAa*.,Hen.V., iv. 2. 54. 
4. Destitute of living beings. 
Statues finished the lifeless spot with mimic representa- 
tions of the excluded sons of men. 
Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting, IV. vii. 
= SyTL 1. Defunct 3. Inert, torpid, sluggish, spiritless, 
passive ; flat, frigid, pointless. 
lifelessly (lif les-li), adv. In a lifeless manner ; 
without vigor ; dully ; heavily ; frigidly. 
lifelessness (lif'les-nes), n. The state of be- 
ing lifeless ; destitution of life, vigor, or spirit ; 
inactivity. 
lifelike (lif 'lik), o. Simulating or resembling 
life; giving the impression of real life: as, a 
lifelike portrait or narrative. 
lifelikeness (lif 'lik-nes), . The quality of be- 
ing lifelike ; simulation of real life. 
An absolute lifelikeness of expression. 
Poe, Oval Portrait 
life-line (lif'lin), n. Naut. : (a) Arope stretched 
anywhere on a vessel for the safety of the men 
in bad weather or when they are manning yards : 
in the latter case it is stretched from the mast 
to the lift. (&) One of several lines attached 
to a life-buoy or life-boat, to enable a person 
in the water to reach the boat or buoy more 
readily. 
lifelodet, [ME. liflode, lyflode; < life + lode^. 
Hence, by confusion, the present form liveli- 
hood?.] Conduct of life ; means of living ; sup- 
port; sustenance. 
This foule syn, accidie, is eek a ful greet enemy to the 
lifelode of the body. Chaucer, Parson's Tale. 
The Erth mynystrethe to us 2 thinges ; oure Liflode, 
that comethe of the Erthe that wee lyve by, and oure Se- 
pulture aftre oure Dethe. Mandeville, Travels, p. 293. 
lifelong (lif 'long), a. [< life + longi. Cf. lire- 
long, an older form of the same word.] Last- 
ing or continuing through life: as, a lifelong 
struggle with poverty ; a lifelong friend. 
lifelyt, a. and adv. An obsolete form of lively. 
life-mortar (lifmor'tar), . A mortar for 
throwing a rocket with'a rope attached over a 
ship in distress near the shore. 
lifent, v. t. An obsolete form of liven. 
life-office (lif'ofis), . An office where the 
business of life-insurance is transacted. 
life-peer (llf'per), . A peer whose peerage 
lapses at his death, not being hereditary. See 
lord of appeal in ordinary, under lord. 
life-peerage (lif'per"aj), . A peerage con- 
ferred only for the period of the recipient's 
life. 
life-plant (lif 'plant), n. A plant of the genus 
Bryophyllum (B. ealycinum and B. proliferum), 
belonging to the Crassulaceie. The leaf emits 
roots when laid on damp earth. 
