lift

verb

/lɪft/

Etymology

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport". (To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)). But perhaps simply from the idea of removing an item from a surface.

derived from *lewp-✻ — “to peel, break off, damage”
inherited from *luftuz✻ — “roof, sky, air”
inherited from *luftu✻
inherited from lyft — “atmosphere, air”
inherited from lifte

Definitions

1
To raise or rise.
- The fog eventually lifted, leaving the streets clear.
- You never lift a finger to help me!
- c. 1490, Of Penance and Confession be master Jhon Yrlandː Liftand (lifting) thy hands and thy eyen to Heaven.
2
To steal.
- Kamal is out with twenty men to raise the Border side, And he has lifted the Colonel's mare that is the Colonel's pride.
To source directly without acknowledgement
To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
›+ 33 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  To arrest (a person).
  - Maybe the police lifted him and he's in Castlereagh [Interrogation Centre] because he'd been lifted three or four times previously and took to Castlereagh. They used to come in and raid the house and take him away.
2. To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
3. 6
  To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
  - The Gunners boss has been heavily criticised for his side's poor start to the Premier League season but this result helps lift the pressure.
4. 7
  To disperse, to break up.
  - About three o'clock in the mornin', the company began to lift, and the room to get thinner and thinner.
  - But Miss Macnee had one important move in reserve. She saw the company was about to 'lift,' as she was pleased to term it, and this move must be made before they separated.
5. 8
  To lift weights
  To lift weights; to weight-lift.
  - She lifts twice a week at the gym.
6. 9
  To try to raise something
  To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
  - strained by lifting at a weight too heavy
7. 10
  To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.
  To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.
  - The Roman virtues lift up mortal man.
  - being lifted up with pride
8. 11
  To bear
  To bear; to support.
  - Th' earth him underneath Did grone, as feeble so great load to lift.
9. To collect, as moneys due
  To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
10. Given morphisms f and g with the same target
  Given morphisms f and g with the same target: To produce a morphism which the given morphism factors through (i.e. a morphism h such that f=g∘h; cf. lift n.etymology 1, noun 18)
11. To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
12. 15
  To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.
  - I lifted the hounds (hoping to catch the leading ones there) to the far side of Hallaton Thorns.
13. An act of lifting or raising.
14. 17
  The act of transporting someone in a vehicle
  The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.
  - He gave me a lift to the bus station.
  - Accordingly, in spite of many grumbles and remonstrances from Summerlee, I ordered an additional tube, which was placed with the other in his motor-car, for he had offered me a lift to Victoria.
15. 18
  Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a…
  Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.
  - Take the lift to the fourth floor.
16. An upward force
  An upward force; especially, the force (generated by wings, rotary wings, or airfoils) that keeps aircraft aloft.
17. The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway,…
  The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
18. 21
  A thief.
  - The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.
19. The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
20. Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
21. 24
  An improvement in mood.
  - The news rocked us, especially since we were anticipating a lift for our spirits under the grim circumstances.
  - Just to think he had both a mistress and a wife gave him a lift. He needed a lift, for although he'd had promotion, his wasn't an exciting job.
  - The dismissal of a player who left Arsenal for Manchester City before joining Tottenham gave the home players and fans a noticeable lift.
22. 25
  The amount or weight to be lifted.
  - What's the maximum lift of this crane?
23. The space or distance through which anything is lifted.
24. 27
  A rise
  A rise; a degree of elevation.
  - the lift of a lock in canals
25. A liftgate.
26. A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising…
  A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
27. One of the steps of a cone pulley.
28. A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.
29. 32
  That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.
  - some measure the total lift and others only the lift on one side, a quantity which is not exactly half of the total lift
30. 33
  A morphism which some given morphism factors through
  A morphism which some given morphism factors through; i.e. given a pair of morphisms f:X→Y and g:Z→Y, a morphism h such that f=g∘h. (In this case h is said to be a lift of f via Z or via g).
  - For a covering space p#58;#92;tildeX#92;toX a path #92;gamma [i.e. a continuous map #91;0,1#93;#92;toX] in X has a unique lift #92;tilde#92;gamma starting at a given point of p#123;-1#125;(#92;gamma(0))
31. A shorter extract from a commercial/advertisement, able to be used on its own.
32. Air.
33. 36
  The sky
  The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
  - No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at lift. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at lift. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at lift

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA

lift

Etymology

Definitions

The neighborhood

Derived

Vish — recursive loop