Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Having life; not dead: "live" describes something that is alive, such as a plant, animal, or person.
   • Currently active or in use: "live" can describe something that is currently operational, relevant, or happening in real-time.
   • Carrying an electrical current: "live" refers to a wire or circuit that is electrically charged and dangerous to touch.
   • Not recorded; happening in real-time: "live" describes a broadcast or performance happening at the same time it is being watched or heard.

2. Verb:

   • To be alive; to have life: The primary meaning is to exist as a living being.
   • To reside in a place: "live" means to have one's home in a specific location.
   • To conduct one's life in a particular way: "live" refers to the manner or style in which one exists or experiences life.
   • To survive or endure: "live" can mean to continue to exist through a difficult situation.

3. Adverb:

   • At the time of occurrence; in real-time: "live" describes something broadcast or performed as it happens, not from a recording.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • We saw a live performance of the symphony. (We saw the musicians performing at that moment.)
  • Be careful, that wire is live. (That wire is electrically charged.)
  • The debate is a live issue in politics today. (The debate is a current and active topic.)

• Verb:

  • Fish live in water. (Fish have their existence in water.)
  • She lives in a small apartment. (Her home is in a small apartment.)
  • He wants to live a peaceful life. (He wants to experience a peaceful existence.)

• Adverb:

  • The concert was broadcast live on television. (The concert was shown on TV as it was happening.)

Advanced Usage

• "to live it up": to enjoy life in a lively, exciting, and often extravagant way.

  • They went to the city for the weekend to live it up.

• "to live and breathe something": to be extremely enthusiastic about something; for it to be a central part of one's life.

  • She lives and breathes classical music.

• "to live a lie": to live in a way that hides the truth about oneself or one's situation.

  • He felt he was living a lie by pretending to be happy.

Variants and Related Words

• Alive (adj): living, not dead. (Often used interchangeably with "live" as an adjective for living things, but "alive" is typically used after a verb.)
• Lively (adj): full of life and energy; active and outgoing.
• Livelihood (n): a means of securing the necessities of life.
• Living (adj/n): (adj) alive; (n) a means of earning money to support life.
• Outlive (v): to live longer than someone else.

Synonyms

• Verb: Exist, reside, dwell, inhabit, survive, subsist.
• Adjective: Alive, living, active, current, charged, unrecorded.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Live by: to follow a particular rule, principle, or belief.

  • He tries to live by the golden rule.

• Live down: to overcome shame or embarrassment from a past mistake through subsequent good behavior.

  • He hopes to live down the embarrassment of his early failure.

• Live for: to consider something the most important thing in one's life.

  • She lives for her work.

• Live off/on: to use something as a source of money or food.

  • He lives off his investments. / They live on a diet of rice and vegetables.

• Live through: to experience and survive a difficult event or period.

  • She lived through two wars.

• Live up to: to fulfill expectations or a standard.

  • The new product did not live up to its advertising.

• Live with: to accept or tolerate a difficult situation.

  • You'll have to live with the consequences of your decision.

Related Idioms

• Live and let live: a philosophy of tolerance, accepting that others have different ways of living.

  • My policy is to live and let live.

• Live from hand to mouth: to have just enough money to meet one's basic needs, with no ability to save.

  • After losing his job, he was living from hand to mouth.

• Live wire: a person who is very energetic and lively.

  • The new manager is a real live wire.

• As sure as I'm living/standing here: used to emphasize that one is telling the absolute truth.

  • It happened just as I said, as sure as I'm standing here.

Adjective

1. capable of erupting
   • a live volcano
   • the volcano is very much alive
2. charged or energized with electricity
   • a hot wire
   • a live wire
3. of current relevance
   • a live issue
   • still a live option
4. in current use or ready for use
   • live copy is ready to be set in type or already set but not yet proofread
5. abounding with life and energy
   • the club members are a really live bunch
6. elastic; rebounds readily
   • clean bouncy hair
   • a lively tennis ball
   • as resilient as seasoned hickory
   • springy turf
7. charged with an explosive
   • live ammunition
   • a live bomb
8. highly reverberant
   • a live concert hall
9. possessing life
   • the happiest person alive
   • the nerve is alive
   • doctors are working hard to keep him alive
   • burned alive
   • a live canary
10. exerting force or containing energy
    • live coals
    • tossed a live cigarette out the window
    • got a shock from a live wire
    • live ore is unmined ore
    • a live bomb
    • a live ball is one in play
11. actually being performed at the time of hearing or viewing
    • a live television program
    • brought to you live from Lincoln Center
    • live entertainment involves performers actually in the physical presence of a live audience

Adverb

1. not recorded
   • the opera was broadcast live

Verb

1. pursue a positive and satisfying existence
   • You must accept yourself and others if you really want to live
2. have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations
   • I know the feeling!
   • have you ever known hunger?
   • I have lived a kind of hell when I was a drug addict
   • The holocaust survivors have lived a nightmare
   • I lived through two divorces
3. have life, be alive
   • Our great leader is no more
   • My grandfather lived until the end of war
4. support oneself
   • he could barely exist on such a low wage
   • Can you live on $2000 a month in New York City?
   • Many people in the world have to subsist on $1 a day
5. continue to live through hardship or adversity
   • We went without water and food for 3 days
   • These superstitions survive in the backwaters of America
   • The race car driver lived through several very serious accidents
   • how long can a person last without food and water?
6. lead a certain kind of life; live in a certain style
   • we had to live frugally after the war
7. inhabit or live in; be an inhabitant of
   • People lived in Africa millions of years ago
   • The people inhabited the islands that are now deserted
   • this kind of fish dwells near the bottom of the ocean
   • deer are populating the woods