INDEX:
1. not dead
2. to continue to be alive
3. something that is alive
4. something that is not living and never has been living
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ DEAD
to not die in an accident, war etc : ↑ SURVIVE
see also
↑ LIVE
↑ LIFE
↑ EXIST
↑ DIE
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1. not dead
▷ alive /əˈlaɪv/ [adjective not before noun]
not dead :
still alive
▪ Are all your grandparents still alive?
keep somebody alive
to prevent someone from dying by giving them food, medicine etc
▪ Paramedics fought for an hour by the roadside to keep him alive.
barely alive
▪ The police found them lying on the kitchen floor. Mr Wilkins was dead and his wife was barely alive.
alive and well
alive and not injured or ill
▪ The children were found alive and well after being missing for several days.
see somebody alive
▪ She was the last person to see him alive.
▷ living /ˈlɪvɪŋ/ [adjective only before noun]
still living now :
▪ A brother in Australia is Mary’s only living relative.
greatest living poet/composer/painter etc
▪ Seamus Heaney is Ireland’s greatest living poet.
▷ animate /ˈænɪmət, ˈænəmət/ [adjective] formal
something that is animate is alive and able to move, and is therefore not an object :
animate objects
▪ At this age, children are still unable to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects.
▷ life /laɪf/ [uncountable noun]
the fact or state of being alive :
▪ Do you believe in life after death?
▪ Unfortunately it’s usually the worst experiences that remind us how precious life is.
fight/struggle for life
▪ She sat beside the hospital bed, holding his hand as he struggled for life.
cling to life
to struggle to stay alive
▪ An 18-year-old San José man clung to life late Wednesday after being shot in the head during a robbery.
2. to continue to be alive
▷ live /lɪv/ [intransitive verb]
to continue to be alive :
▪ The baby was born with a serious heart defect and not expected to live.
live for two years/three months/a long time etc
▪ My father only lived for a few years after his heart attack.
▪ Cats normally live for about twelve years.
the will to live
the desire to live
▪ The will to live can be a vital factor in recovery.
▷ stay alive /ˌsteɪ əˈlaɪv/ [verb phrase]
to not die, even though you are in a dangerous situation :
▪ The ship’s crew eventually resorted to eating rats and even sawdust to stay alive.
▪ Krasner, who has cancer, vowed she would stay alive until her brother was set free.
▷ outlive /aʊtˈlɪv/ [transitive verb]
to remain alive longer than someone else, especially a relative or friend who has died :
▪ Judith outlived two of her three children.
outlive somebody by 10 years/six months etc
▪ Women, on average, outlive men by 1.9 years.
▷ survive /səʳˈvaɪv/ [transitive verb]
to live longer than someone else, usually someone closely related to you - used especially in newspaper articles :
survive somebody by 10 years/six months etc
▪ Charles survived his wife by three months.
be survived by
▪ Monroe is survived by his wife, Regina, and two sons, Stanley and John.
3. something that is alive
▷ living thing /ˌlɪvɪŋ ˈθɪŋ/ [countable noun]
a human, animal, plant, or anything that is alive :
▪ An ocean is full of living things.
▪ The tree, at 368 feet, is considered the world’s tallest living thing.
▪ Ecology is the study of how living things relate to their environment.
▷ life form /ˈlaɪf fɔːʳm/ [countable noun]
a living thing or one type of living thing - used in scientific or technical contexts :
▪ Hobart is convinced that there are life forms on other planets.
▪ Some scientists estimate that at least one third of the life forms that exist in deep oceans have not yet been discovered.
▪ strange life forms in the Galapagos Islands
▷ organism /ˈɔːʳgənɪz ə m/ [countable noun]
a living thing, especially an extremely small one - used in scientific and technical contexts :
▪ Food poisoning is caused by a bacterial organism.
living organism
▪ Genetic engineers manipulate living organisms such as cells or bacteria to create products which fight disease.
▷ life /laɪf/ [uncountable noun]
any living things, for example people, animals, plants, or all of these things together :
▪ Oxygen is necessary to sustain life on Earth.
▪ The new evidence seemed to indicate that life existed on Mars billions of years ago.
animal/plant life
all the animals or plants in a place
▪ Many species of plant life continue to be eradicated in South American rain forests.
▷ wildlife /ˈwaɪldlaɪf/ [uncountable noun]
animals and plants growing in natural conditions :
▪ The Sea of Cortez is rich with wildlife.
▪ The organization was set up to protect wildlife across Europe.
4. something that is not living and never has been living
▷ inanimate /ɪnˈænɪmət, ɪnˈænəmət/ [adjective]
inanimate object
▪ How can you get angry with a car? It’s an inanimate object!
▪ Some languages categorise not only living things as masculine or feminine, but inanimate objects as well.