I. ˈliviŋ adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from present participle of liven to live — more at live
1.
a. : having life : not dead
all living things by definition have irritability and response — Weston LaBarre
swore by the living God that he spoke the truth
the skin is a living tissue — Morris Fishbein
and he stood between the dead and the living ; and the plague was stopped — Num 16: 48 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : now or still having life : contemporary , surviving
not in the memory of living men had such another opportunity offered
the living orders of insects
c. : active , effective , functioning , productive , vital
the past of mankind … abides as a living reality in our present — P.E.More
educators who think of the liberal-arts tradition in a living and creative fashion — H.D.Gideonse
a suffix that continues to form new compounds remains living in the language
2.
a. : exhibiting the life or motion of nature or its life-giving powers
it was a land of high, rolling prairies, wide valleys, and sweet living water — F.B.Gipson
drinking this champagne water is pure pleasure, so is breathing the living air — John Muir †1914
the happy living sunlight — Edith Sitwell
b. : burning
then on the living coals red wine they pour — John Dryden
3. : remaining uncut or unquarried : native
in places the track was hewn out of the living rock — Geographical Journal
4.
a. : full of life or vigor : lively
visualized anatomy as a living subject — H.R.Viets
b. : true to life or reality : vivid
no mere historical curiosity but a living and moving work of art — Edward Sackville-West
seek through the flesh: you will not find the living likeness of the mind — D.C.Babcock
c. : animated by thought or purpose bearing directly on life : vitally inspired or relevant : moved or formed by significant aims
a working library, a living library — Virginia Woolf
5. : appropriate, designed, or adequate for living
rug and wood paneling define the living area — Edgar Kaufmann
6. : having or using live performers (as actors or musicians) rather than mechanical recordings
baffled in the effort to detect the living performance from the … record — R.D.Darrell
there would be a renaissance of the living theater — Theatre Arts
7. : very — used as an intensive
history … scares the living daylights out of school kids — Nicholas County (W. Virginia) News Leader
beat the living tar out of him
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from gerund of liven
1. : the condition of being alive or the action of a being that has life
living in the same house became impossible
the ascetic with a passion for living — H.S.Canby
2. : the passing of one's life in a particular way : conduct or manner of life
the art of living is thus recognized as a subject which concerns everyone — Herbert Spencer
the collegiate way of living — J.B.Conant
utter impatience with totalitarian living — G.P.Musselman
was conspicuous for loose living
3.
a. : means of subsistence : livelihood
we both earn our livings — Virginia Woolf
bees, too, are here … getting a living among the blue flowers of the sea holly — Robert Lynd
b. archaic : an estate or income-producing property
c. Britain : benefice I 1
the diaries of clergymen in quiet country livings — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
Synonyms:
livelihood , subsistence , sustenance , maintenance , support , keep , bread , or bread and butter: living is general in meaning but is now limited to use in a few idioms
to make a living selling books
to take a living from the soil
livelihood often applies to the wages, salary, or income from which one lives or to the profession or craft whereby one earns his wages or salary
provided with a modest livelihood
while the profession is of necessity a means of livelihood or of financial reward, the devoted service which it inspires is motivated by other considerations — R.M.MacIver
stock raising is his livelihood
education is a preparation for life, not merely for a livelihood, for living not for a living — George Sampson
subsistence suggests living with only the barest necessities
subsistence wages are the lowest needed to sustain life
if he could raise enough corn and pork for subsistence, he cared for nothing more — American Guide Series: North Carolina
sustenance applies to whatever sustains life; it ranges from indicating food and other necessities for bare subsistence to more liberal provision
the purely sustenance type of farming in which the farmer merely supplies his own needs — Samuel Van Valkenburg and Ellsworth Huntington
Irish parents who had come to this country in search of more sustenance than they could glean from the barren soil of Connemara — Russel Crouse
maintenance applies to a complex of necessities like food, lodging, clothing, and cleaning or to money sufficient to provide them
maintenance for his separated wife
the hospital had advertised for a general resident doctor at $300 a month and maintenance — Greer Williams
monthly allowances to parents for the maintenance, care, training, education, and advancement of the child — Current Biography
support may apply to means of maintenance or to the person who provides the means
his scanty wages are his parent's sole support
keep is a somewhat colloquial synonym for maintenance and is applicable to animals as well as persons
hired men could no longer be had for ten or fifteen dollars a month and keep — W.A.White
bread and bread and butter are synecdoches for living or sustenance
give us this day our daily bread — Mt 6: 11 (Revised Standard Version)
earning one's bread and butter at the mill