lift
Other forms: lifted; lifting; lifts
To lift something is to pick it up, or raise it in the air. You'll need to lift a flag before you start waving it.
You can lift things literally, like when you lift your cat in the air to save it from your dog's slobbery tongue, or lift your glass for a New Year's Eve toast. You can also lift things figuratively, like when someone lifts your spirits, cheering you up, or when winning first prize in a contest lifts a writer from obscurity, elevating her position in the literary world. In Britain, lift is also another word for "elevator."
Definitions of lift
-
raise from a lower to a higher position“Lift a load”
-
Antonyms:
-
bring down, get down, let down, lower, take down
move something or somebody to a lower position
-
types:
- show 22 types...
- hide 22 types...
-
get up
cause to rise
-
jack, jack up
lift with a special device
-
shoulder
lift onto one's shoulders
-
kick up
cause to rise by kicking
-
hoist, wind
raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
-
trice, trice up
raise with a line
-
hoist, run up
raise
-
hoist
move from one place to another by lifting
-
pump
raise (gases or fluids) with a pump
-
levitate
cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity
-
underlay
raise or support (the level of printing) by inserting a piece of paper or cardboard under the type
-
skid
elevate onto skids
-
pinnacle
raise on or as if on a pinnacle
-
chin, chin up
raise oneself while hanging from one's hands until one's chin is level with the support bar
-
leaven, prove, raise
cause to puff up with a leaven
-
heighten
increase the height of
-
boost, hike, hike up
increase
-
gather up, lift up, pick up
take and lift upward
-
erect, rear
cause to rise up
-
trice, trice up
hoist up or in and lash or secure with a small rope
-
pitch, set up
erect and fasten
-
cock up, prick, prick up
raise
-
bring down, get down, let down, lower, take down
-
move upwards
-
move upward“The fog lifted”
-
Antonyms:
-
come down, descend, fall, go down
move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
-
types:
- show 16 types...
- hide 16 types...
-
scend, surge
rise or heave upward under the influence of a natural force such as a wave
-
climb, climb up, go up, mount
go upward with gradual or continuous progress
-
soar, soar up, soar upwards, surge, zoom
rise rapidly
-
go up
be erected, built, or constructed
-
rocket, skyrocket
shoot up abruptly, like a rocket
-
bubble
rise in bubbles or as if in bubbles
-
uplift
lift up from the earth, as by geologic forces
-
chandelle
climb suddenly and steeply
-
steam
rise as vapor
-
ascend, come up, rise, uprise
come up, of celestial bodies
-
scale
climb up by means of a ladder
-
escalade
climb up and over
-
ramp
creep up -- used especially of plants
-
mountaineer
climb mountains for pleasure as a sport
-
billow, wallow
rise up as if in waves
-
ride
climb up on the body
-
come down, descend, fall, go down
-
take hold of something and move it to a different location“lift the box onto the table”
-
types:
- show 4 types...
- hide 4 types...
-
heave, heave up, heft, heft up
lift or elevate
-
fork, pitchfork
lift with a pitchfork
-
upheave
lift forcefully from beneath
-
weigh anchor, weigh the anchor
heave up an anchor in preparation for sailing
-
raise or haul up with or as if with mechanical help
-
fly people or goods to or from places not accessible by other means
-
invigorate or heighten
-
raise in rank or condition
-
rise up
-
rise upward, as from pressure or moisture
-
make audible
-
take off or away by decreasing
-
pay off (a mortgage)
-
put an end to
-
cancel officially“lift an embargo”
-
types:
-
go back on, renege, renege on, renegue on
fail to fulfill a promise or obligation
-
type of:
-
cancel, strike down
declare null and void; make ineffective
-
go back on, renege, renege on, renegue on
-
call to stop the hunt or to retire, as of hunting dogs
-
make off with belongings of others
-
take illegally
-
take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property
-
synonyms:
plagiarise, plagiarize
-
remove from a surface
-
take (root crops) out of the ground
-
remove from a seedbed or from a nursery
-
remove (hair) by scalping
-
type of:
-
scalp
remove the scalp of
-
scalp
-
the act of raising something“he responded with a lift of his eyebrow”
-
type of:
-
actuation, propulsion
the act of propelling
-
actuation, propulsion
-
the event of something being raised upward
-
the component of the aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that opposes gravity
-
synonyms:
aerodynamic lift
-
types:
-
ground effect
apparent increase in aerodynamic lift experienced by an aircraft flying close to the ground
-
type of:
-
aerodynamic force
forces acting on airfoils in motion relative to the air (or other gaseous fluids)
-
ground effect
-
a wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground
-
synonyms:
rise
-
type 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)
-
moving ridge, wave
-
the act of giving temporary assistance
-
type of:
-
aid, assist, assistance, help
the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose
-
aid, assist, assistance, help
-
a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill
-
types:
- show 4 types...
- hide 4 types...
-
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
-
Alpine lift, T-bar, T-bar lift
a surface lift where riders hold a bar and are pulled up the hill on their skis
-
type of:
-
conveyance, transport
something that serves as a means of transportation
-
one of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot
-
a device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg
-
type of:
-
device
an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose
-
device
-
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
-
synonyms:
elevator
-
types:
-
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
-
type of:
-
lifting device
a device for lifting heavy loads
-
dumbwaiter, food elevator
-
transportation of people or goods by air (especially when other means of access are unavailable)
-
synonyms:
airlift
-
examples:
-
Berlin airlift
airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin
-
type of:
-
conveyance, transfer, transferral, transport, transportation
the act of moving something from one location to another
-
Berlin airlift
-
a ride in a car
-
perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face
-
synonyms:
face-lift
-
type of:
-
operate, operate on
perform surgery on
-
operate, operate on
-
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
-
synonyms:
cosmetic surgery, face lift, face lifting, facelift, nip and tuck, rhytidectomy, rhytidoplasty
-
types:
-
nose job, rhinoplasty
cosmetic surgery to improve the appearance of your nose
-
type of:
-
anaplasty, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery
surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue
-
nose job, rhinoplasty
Pronunciation
US
/lɪft/
UK
/lɪft/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
A paragraph of text
Copy citationDISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘lift'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up lift for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
