Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To direct or carry from a lower to a higher position; raise.
  • intransitive verb To transport by air.
  • intransitive verb To revoke by taking back; rescind.
  • intransitive verb To bring an end to (a blockade or siege) by removing forces.
  • intransitive verb To cease (artillery fire) in an area.
  • intransitive verb To raise in condition, rank, or esteem.
  • intransitive verb To uplift; elate.
  • intransitive verb To remove (plants) from the ground for transplanting.
  • intransitive verb To project or sound in loud, clear tones.
  • intransitive verb Informal To steal; pilfer.
  • intransitive verb Informal To copy from something already published; plagiarize.
  • intransitive verb To pay off or clear (a debt or mortgage, for example).
  • intransitive verb To perform cosmetic surgery on (the face, for example), especially in order to remove wrinkles or sagging skin.
  • intransitive verb Sports To hit (a golf ball) very high into the air.
  • intransitive verb To pick up (a golf ball) to place it in a better lie.
  • intransitive verb To shoot or flip (a puck) so that it rises sharply off the ice.
  • intransitive verb To rise; ascend.
  • intransitive verb To yield to upward pressure.
  • intransitive verb To disappear or disperse by or as if by rising.
  • intransitive verb To stop temporarily.
  • intransitive verb To become elevated; soar.
  • noun The act or process of rising or raising to a higher position.
  • noun Power or force available for raising.
  • noun An organized effort or a flight transporting supplies or people by airplane; an airlift.
  • noun The extent or height to which something is raised or rises; the amount of elevation.
  • noun The distance or space through which something is raised or rises.
  • noun A rise or an elevation in the level of the ground.
  • noun An elevation of the spirits.
  • noun A raised, high, or erect position, as of a part of the body.
  • noun A machine or device designed to pick up, raise, or carry something.
  • noun One of the layers of leather, rubber, or other material making up the heel of a shoe.
  • noun Chiefly British A passenger or cargo elevator.
  • noun A ride in a vehicle given to help someone reach a destination.
  • noun Assistance or help.
  • noun A set of pumps used in a mine.
  • noun The component of the total aerodynamic force acting on an airfoil or on an entire aircraft or winged missile perpendicular to the relative wind and normally exerted in an upward direction, opposing the pull of gravity.
  • idiom (lift fire) To increase the range of artillery fire by elevating the muzzle of a piece.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In cricket, to hit (the ball) high into the air.
  • In archery, to shoot at an elevation, or with a high trajectory, in order to cover the required distance: said of an arrow.
  • In forestry, to pry up (seedlings in a seed-bed), so that they may be pulled up by hand for transplanting.
  • To pay off; take off (a mortgage).
  • To bring (a constellation) above the horizon in sailing, etc.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English liften, from Old Norse lypta.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta ("to lift, air", literally "to raise in the air"), from Proto-Germanic *luftijanan (“to raise in the air”), from Proto-Indo-European *leup- (“to peel, break off, damage”). Cognate with Danish løfte ("to lift"), Swedish lyfta ("to lift"), German lüften ("to air, lift"), Old English lyft ("air"). See above.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lifte, lüfte, lefte ("air, sky, heaven"), from Old English lyft ("atmosphere, air"), from Proto-Germanic *luftuz, *luftan (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”). Cognate with Old High German luft (German Luft, "air"), Dutch lucht ("air"), Old Norse lopt (loft, "upper room, sky, air"). More at loft.

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Examples

  • _Dip and lift, dip and lift_, through an infinity of time and torture and travail, till even the line dimmed and faded and the struggle lost its meaning.

    A Daughter of the Snows Jack London 1896

  • _Dip and lift, dip and lift_, till sky and earth and river were blotted out, and consciousness dwindled to a thin line, -- a streak of foam, fringed on the one hand with sneering rock, on the other with snarling water.

    A Daughter of the Snows Jack London 1896

  • _Dip and lift, dip and lift_, the paddles worked with rhythmic strength.

    A Daughter of the Snows Jack London 1896

  • That, overall, has been far less painful than my * back* was, but between weight loss and having not been to a chiro in over a year and not felt like I/needed/to go, and the once-gone ability to pop my lower back now returned, the ache from the lift is annoying enough that I'm going to try walking around for a while without it and see if I'm healed. miles to Isengard: 338

    slow on the uptake 2006

  • Does the Air Force have the lift -- what they call the lift capability, to deploy, to pre-position troops and equipment very rapidly, so it doesn't take six months as it did during Operation Desert Shield, as General Clark just said, that led up to Operation Desert Strom, the Gulf War?

    CNN Transcript Sep 8, 2002 2002

  • Gluck was also happy with what he calls the lift … where people tend to buy more.

    ContactlessNews | Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security 2009

  • Gluck was also happy with what he calls the lift … where people tend to buy more.

    ContactlessNews | Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security 2009

  • Gluck was also happy with what he calls the lift … where people tend to buy more.

    ContactlessNews | Contactless Smart Cards, RFID, Payment, Transit and Security 2009

  • In fact, its wide, tri-lobe shape, which allows its body to generate lift, is the high-tech descendant of an idea that engineers, inventors, and crackpots have pursued since the Civil War.

    Dirigible Dreams 2010

  • In fact, its wide, tri-lobe shape, which allows its body to generate lift, is the high-tech descendant of an idea that engineers, inventors, and crackpots have pursued since the Civil War.

    Dirigible Dreams 2010

Comments

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  • Scots (archaic) - sky.

    December 26, 2007

  • Lift

    We're feeling really damn generous today.

    January 11, 2010