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lift

verb · noun

Simple meaning

Raise from a lower to a higher position.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

lift
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlɪft

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. ambitransitive

    Raise from a lower to a higher position

  2. ambitransitive

    Raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help

  3. ambitransitive

    To raise or rise.

  4. Raise in rank or condition

    “The new law lifted many people from poverty.”

  5. transitive

    To cause to move upwards.

  6. To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.

noun

  1. An act of lifting or raising.

  2. The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.

  3. An upward force; especially, the force (generated by wings, rotary wings, or airfoils) that keeps aircraft aloft.

  4. figurative

    An improvement in mood.

  5. A rise; a degree of elevation.

  6. The amount or weight to be lifted.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Raise from a lower to a higher position

Used this way, lift is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use lift

  • “The new law lifted many people from poverty.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

lift coefficientair lift

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • lifternounInflected form

    An athlete who lifts barbells.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lift pumpnounCompound term

    Pump used to lift rather than force a liquid up.

  • lift upverbCompound term

    Take and lift upward.

  • lift offverbCompound term

    Depart from the ground.

  • lifting devicenounCompound term

    A device for lifting heavy loads.

  • lift outverbCompound term

    Take out or up with or as if with a scoop.

  • lift bridgenounCompound term

    A bridge that can be raised to block passage or to allow boats or ships to pass beneath it.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: raise from a lower to a higher position

arisebring upelevatereverse

Antonyms

Sense: raise from a lower to a higher position

descendfallbring downtake down

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.