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life verbs save sb’s life • The money you give will save the life of a child. risk your life • He risked his life to help Jews during the Second World War. lose your life (= die ) • Hundreds of people lost their lives on the first day of the fighting. take a/sb’s life (= kill someone ) • All cultures consider it wrong to take a life for no reason. take your own life (= kill yourself ) • He was depressed and decided to take his own life. claim the life of somebody (= kill someone – used of a thing ) • The disease claimed the lives of up to a quarter of the population. cost lives/cost somebody their life (= result in deaths/in someone’s death ) • That decision may have cost him his life. give your life/lay down your life (= die in order to save other people, or because of a strong belief ) • These men gave their lives during the war to keep us free. endanger the life of somebody • They wanted to capture the gunman without endangering the lives of his hostages. spare sb’s life (= not kill someone, when you could kill them ) • She begged him to spare the life of her son. be fighting for your life (= be so ill or injured that you might die ) • One badly burned man was fighting for his life in hospital. cling to life (= try to stay alive, even though you are very ill or injured ) • She clung to life, despite the pain. phrases owe your life to somebody (= be still alive because of someone’s actions ) • The victim said he owed his life to the stranger who helped him. take your life in your hands (= put yourself in a dangerous situation ) • Just crossing this road is taking your life in your hands. COMMON ERRORS >>> Do not say ' the cost of life '. Say the cost of living .
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noun living things ADJ. intelligent Is there intelligent life on other planets? | animal, bird, human, insect, marine, plant LIFE + NOUN form | cycle existence VERB + LIFE lose He lost his life in an air crash. | bring sb back to, restore sb to | cling to, fight for She clung to life for several weeks. | risk She risked her life for the sake of the children. | save a drug that will save lives | spare She begged the soldiers to spare her son's life. | give, lay down, sacrifice | claim, cost, end, take The crash claimed 43 lives. His foolishness almost cost him his life. She took her own life. | start (figurative) The restaurant started life as a cinema. LIFE + VERB be lost No lives were lost in the accident. LIFE + NOUN assurance, insurance PHRASES an attempt on sb's life There have been three attempts on the president's life. | in fear for/of your life Witnesses are living in fear for their life after giving evidence against the gang. | life after death Do you believe in life after death? | loss of life The plane crashed with heavy loss of life. | a matter of life and death (figurative) These talks are a matter of life and death for the factory. | the right to life anti-abortionists campaigning for the right to life | signs of life The driver showed no signs of life. period between birth and death ADJ. long, short | entire, whole | early | adult | later In later life he took up writing. | past, previous He never discussed the unhappinesses of his past life. I think I may have been an animal in a previous life. | future, next | working He was a miner all his working life. VERB + LIFE go through, live, spend She went through life always wanting what she couldn't get. He spent his whole life in Cornwall. | end He ended his life a happy man. | shorten | prolong | dedicate, devote He devoted his life to the education of deaf children. LIFE + NOUN history, story | membership | imprisonment, sentence | expectancy, span (also lifespan) Japanese people have a very high life expectancy. the lifespan of a mouse PREP. for ~ She thought marriage should be for life. | in your ~ for the first time in her life | throughout your ~ Throughout her life she was dogged by loneliness. PHRASES all your life I've known her all my life. | at sb's time of life At his time of life he should be starting to take things easy. | the end of your life Her paintings became more obscure towards the end of her life. | late in life She discovered jazz quite late in life. | the … of your life I had the fright of my life when I saw the snake in my bed. He met the love of his life at college. | a phase/stage in/of (your) life She sensed she was entering a new phase in her life. | the prime of life You're still in the prime of life. | the remainder/rest of your life He'll be haunted by the crash for the rest of his life. activity in the world ADJ. daily, day-to-day, everyday | real a real-life drama | modern | personal, private She did not tolerate press intrusion into her private life. | inner Only his wife had access to his inner life. | family, married | social | love, sex | public His fame was so sudden that he was unprepared for public life. | academic, business, cultural, economic, intellectual, political, professional, school | night (also nightlife) What's the nightlife like in the town? | city, village, etc. VERB + LIFE build, rebuild He built his whole life around his children. She is still reb PHRASES an attitude to life, an outlook on life, a philosophy/view of life I've always had a fairly optimistic outlook on life. | a love of life He always had a great love of life. | a man/woman in your life There has only been one woman in his life. | see sth of life I wanted to see something of life before I settled down. | the … side of life His time in London was his first glimpse of the seamier side of life. | want sth from/in/out of life They both seem to want the same things out of life. way of living ADJ. good, happy | lonely, miserable, sad, unhappy | hard | easy | active, busy, hectic | exciting | full | peaceful, quiet | normal, ordinary | healthy | sheltered | double He had been leading a double life, married to two women. VERB + LIFE have, lead, live She leads a busy social life. | enjoy | change Learning meditation changed her life. | dominate, take over He never let his work dominate his life. | ruin He ruined his life through drinking. PHRASES build/make/start a new life They went to Australia to start a new life. | enjoy/live life to the full He always believed in living life to the full. | the high life enjoying the high life in the smartest hotels and restaurants of New York | live a life of … They're living a life of luxury in the Bahamas. | a/the pace of life The pace of life is much gentler on the island. | the quality of life He gave up his high-flying job and now enjoys a better quality of life. | a way of life She loved the Spanish way of life and immediately felt at home there. liveliness VERB + LIFE come to The city only comes to life at night. | breathe, bring sth to, inject They need some new, younger staff to breathe some life into the company. | burst/hum/teem with a child bursting with life PHRASES full of life It's nice to see an old man still so full of life.