LIFT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lift mean? 

• LIFT (noun)
  The noun LIFT has 12 senses:

1. the act of giving temporary assistance

2. the component of the aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that opposes gravity

3. the event of something being raised upward

4. a wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground

5. a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill

6. a device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg

7. one of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot

8. lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

9. plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face; an incision is made near the hair line and skin is pulled back and excess tissue is excised

10. transportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable)

11. a ride in a car

12. the act of raising something

  Familiarity information: LIFT used as a noun is familiar.

• LIFT (verb)
  The verb LIFT has 24 senses:

1. raise from a lower to a higher position

2. take hold of something and move it to a different location

3. move upwards

4. move upward

5. make audible

6. cancel officially

7. make off with belongings of others

8. raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help

9. invigorate or heighten

10. raise in rank or condition

11. take off or away by decreasing

12. rise up

13. pay off (a mortgage)

14. take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property

15. take illegally

16. fly people or goods to or from places not accessible by other means

17. take (root crops) out of the ground

18. call to stop the hunt or to retire, as of hunting dogs

19. rise upward, as from pressure or moisture

20. put an end to

21. remove (hair) by scalping

22. remove from a seedbed or from a nursery

23. remove from a surface

24. perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face

  Familiarity information: LIFT used as a verb is very familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIFT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of giving temporary assistance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

aid; assist; assistance; help (the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The component of the aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that opposes gravity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

aerodynamic lift; lift

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

aerodynamic force (forces acting on airfoils in motion relative to the air (or other gaseous fluids))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lift"):

ground effect (apparent increase in aerodynamic lift experienced by an aircraft flying close to the ground)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The event of something being raised upward

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

elevation; lift; raising

Context example:

a raising of the land resulting from volcanic activity

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

ascension; ascent; rise; rising (a movement upward)

Derivation:

lift (move upward)

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

lift; rise

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

moving ridge; wave (one of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water))

Derivation:

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lift; ski lift; ski tow

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

conveyance; transport (something that serves as a means of transportation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lift"):

chair lift; chairlift (a ski lift on which riders (skiers or sightseers) are seated and carried up or down a mountainside; seats are hung from an endless overhead cable)

rope tow (a ski tow offering only a moving rope to hold onto)

surface lift (a ski tow that pulls skiers up a slope without lifting them off the ground)

Derivation:

lift (raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help)

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Derivation:

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 7

Meaning:

One of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

bed; layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lift"):

top lift (the bottom layer of a heel)

Holonyms ("lift" is a part of...):

heel (the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

elevator; lift

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

lifting device (a device for lifting heavy loads)

Meronyms (parts of "lift"):

car; elevator car (where passengers ride up and down)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lift"):

dumbwaiter; food elevator (a small elevator used to convey food (or other goods) from one floor of a building to another)

freight elevator; service elevator (an elevator designed for carrying freight)

paternoster (a type of lift having a chain of open compartments that move continually in an endless loop so that (agile) passengers can step on or off at each floor)

Holonyms ("lift" is a part of...):

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

Derivation:

lift (raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help)

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face; an incision is made near the hair line and skin is pulled back and excess tissue is excised

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

cosmetic surgery; face lift; face lifting; facelift; lift; nip and tuck; rhytidectomy; rhytidoplasty

Context example:

some actresses have more than one face lift

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

anaplasty; plastic surgery; reconstructive surgery (surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lift"):

nose job; rhinoplasty (cosmetic surgery to improve the appearance of your nose)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Transportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

airlift; lift

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

conveyance; transfer; transferral; transport; transportation (the act of moving something from one location to another)

Instance hyponyms:

Berlin airlift (airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin)

Derivation:

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Sense 11

Meaning:

A ride in a car

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he gave me a lift home

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

drive; ride (a journey in a vehicle (usually an automobile))

Sense 12

Meaning:

The act of raising something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

heave; lift; raise

Context example:

fireman learn several different raises for getting ladders up

Hypernyms ("lift" is a kind of...):

actuation; propulsion (the act of propelling)

Derivation:

lift (move upwards)

lift (raise from a lower to a higher position)

lift (raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help)

• LIFT (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Raise from a lower to a higher position

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bring up; elevate; get up; lift; raise

Context example:

Lift a load

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Cause:

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

pump (raise (gases or fluids) with a pump)

erect; rear (cause to rise up)

gather up; lift up; pick up (take and lift upward)

boost; hike; hike up (increase)

heighten (increase the height of)

leaven; prove; raise (cause to puff up with a leaven)

chin; chin up (raise oneself while hanging from one's hands until one's chin is level with the support bar)

pinnacle (raise on or as if on a pinnacle)

skid (elevate onto skids)

underlay (raise or support (the level of printing) by inserting a piece of paper or cardboard under the type)

levitate (cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity)

hoist (move from one place to another by lifting)

hoist; run up (raise)

trice; trice up (raise with a line)

hoist; lift; wind (raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help)

kick up (cause to rise by kicking)

shoulder (lift onto one's shoulders)

jack; jack up (lift with a special device)

get up (cause to rise)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

The men lift the chairs

Also:

lift up (take and lift upward)

Derivation:

lift (the act of raising something)

lift (transportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable))

lift (lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building)

lift (a device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg)

lift (a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill)

lift (a wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground)

lift (the event of something being raised upward)

lifter (an athlete who lifts barbells)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take hold of something and move it to a different location

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

lift the box onto the table

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

heave; heave up; heft; heft up (lift or elevate)

fork; pitchfork (lift with a pitchfork)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move upwards

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

lift; raise

Context example:

lift one's eyes

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Cause:

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise (move upward)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

lift (the act of raising something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move upward

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

arise; come up; go up; lift; move up; rise; uprise

Context example:

The mist uprose from the meadows

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

ascend; come up; rise; uprise (come up, of celestial bodies)

steam (rise as vapor)

chandelle (climb suddenly and steeply)

uplift (lift up from the earth, as by geologic forces)

bubble (rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles)

go up (be erected, built, or constructed)

soar; soar up; soar upwards; surge; zoom (rise rapidly)

climb; climb up; go up; mount (go upward with gradual or continuous progress)

scend; surge (rise or heave upward under the influence of a natural force such as a wave)

rocket; skyrocket (shoot up abruptly, like a rocket)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lift (the event of something being raised upward)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make audible

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He lifted a war whoop

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

emit; let loose; let out; utter (express audibly; utter sounds (not necessarily words))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Cancel officially

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

annul; countermand; lift; overturn; repeal; rescind; reverse; revoke; vacate

Context example:

vacate a death sentence

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

cancel; strike down (declare null and void; make ineffective)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

go back on; renege; renege on; renegue on (fail to fulfill a promise or obligation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Make off with belongings of others

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

abstract; cabbage; filch; hook; lift; nobble; pilfer; pinch; purloin; snarf; sneak; swipe

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

They lift the goods

Derivation:

lifter (a thief who steals goods that are in a store)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

hoist; lift; wind

Context example:

hoist the bicycle onto the roof of the car

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

bring up; elevate; get up; lift; raise (raise from a lower to a higher position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

trice; trice up (hoist up or in and lash or secure with a small rope)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

lift (lifting device consisting of a platform or cage that is raised and lowered mechanically in a vertical shaft in order to move people from one floor to another in a building)

lift (a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill)

lift (the act of raising something)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Invigorate or heighten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

lift; raise

Context example:

lift his ego

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 10

Meaning:

Raise in rank or condition

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

elevate; lift; raise

Context example:

The new law lifted many people from poverty

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

dignify (raise the status of)

exalt (raise in rank, character, or status)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 11

Meaning:

Take off or away by decreasing

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

lift the pressure

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 12

Meaning:

Rise up

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

lift; rear; rise

Context example:

The building rose before them

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

appear; look; seem (give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

hulk; loom; predominate; tower (appear very large or occupy a commanding position)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 13

Meaning:

Pay off (a mortgage)

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

liquidate; pay off (eliminate by paying off (debts))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 14

Meaning:

Take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

lift; plagiarise; plagiarize

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lift"):

crib (take unauthorized (intellectual material))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sense 15

Meaning:

Take illegally

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

lift; rustle

Context example:

rustle cattle

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They lift the animals

Sense 16

Meaning:

Fly people or goods to or from places not accessible by other means

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

airlift; lift

Context example:

Food is airlifted into Bosnia

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

fly (transport by aeroplane)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 17

Meaning:

Take (root crops) out of the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

lift potatoes

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

dig; dig out (create by digging)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 18

Meaning:

Call to stop the hunt or to retire, as of hunting dogs

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

call; send for (order, request, or command to come)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 19

Meaning:

Rise upward, as from pressure or moisture

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The floor is lifting slowly

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

buckle; heave; warp (bend out of shape, as under pressure or from heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 20

Meaning:

Put an end to

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

lift; raise

Context example:

raise a siege

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

end; terminate (bring to an end or halt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 21

Meaning:

Remove (hair) by scalping

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

scalp (remove the scalp of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 22

Meaning:

Remove from a seedbed or from a nursery

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

lift the tulip bulbs

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 23

Meaning:

Remove from a surface

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

the detective carefully lifted some fingerprints from the table

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

remove; take; take away; withdraw (remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 24

Meaning:

Perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

face-lift; lift

Hypernyms (to "lift" is one way to...):

operate; operate on (perform surgery on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

His sister lifted a flushed face from the wash-tub and looked at him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This continued, but every time the hand lifted, the hair lifted under it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

At this change in his voice, Wolf lifted his head quickly, and still more quickly got to his feet when the man and woman shook hands.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and glanced my eye over it.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The box was taken out to his cart, and lifted in.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This March 9 full moon is one of the most encouraging full moons of the year and will lift you out of ordinary life to experience something other-worldly and quite beautiful.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

When I lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

With a blissful sense of burdens lifted off, Meg and Jo closed their weary eyes, and lay at rest, like storm-beaten boats safe at anchor in a quiet harbor.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

When this was done, he lifted the child and said: Come now, my friends; we can do no more till to-morrow.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I ordered him to set me down, and lifting up one of my sashes, cast many a wistful melancholy look towards the sea.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)