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live

verb · adjective US /laɪv/

be an inhabitant of or reside in

How often you will meet it

Rank 376 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 52,672 times across 155,370 chapters — 0.025% of every word in the library.

It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.

What it means

verb

  1. be an inhabitant of or reside in also: populate, dwell, inhabit People lived in Africa millions of years agoThe people inhabited the islands that are now deserted
  2. lead a certain kind of life; live in a certain style we had to live frugally after the war
  3. continue to live and avoid dying also: survive, last, live on, go, endure, hold up We went without water and food for 3 daysThese superstitions survive in the backwaters of America
  4. support oneself also: exist, survive, subsist he could barely exist on such a low wageCan you live on $2000 a month in New York City?
  5. have life, be alive also: be Our great leader is no moreMy grandfather lived until the end of war
  6. have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations also: know, experience I know the feeling!have you ever known hunger?

adjective

  1. actually being performed at the time of hearing or viewing also: unrecorded a live television programbrought to you live from Lincoln Center

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

live in real books

Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.

  • But people DO live there, just the same.

    The Magic of Oz · L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum · Chapter 1

  • They live as we all should live—undisturbed, indifferent, and without disquiet.

    The Picture of Dorian Gray · Oscar Wilde · Chapter 1

  • I protest, if they don't live like Christians, I'll read them out from the altar.

    The Station · William Carleton · Chapter 1

  • Ah, what may live, who mighty swim, Or boat-crew reach that shore forbid, Or cable span?

    John Marr and Other Poems · Herman Melville · Chapter 1

  • There were good voices among the thousand odd workmen, and Johnny McLean could not well live without music.

    The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1

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