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  1. qui vive love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A sentinel's challenge.
  2. idiom. on the qui vive On the alert; vigilant: "a loathsome Dublin politico who is on the qui vive for . . . terrorists” ( Julian Moynahan).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Who goes there? — the challenge of French sentries addressed to those who approach their posts.

Wiktionary

  1. n. a state of heightened vigilance, especially prior to battle

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. The challenge of a French sentinel, or patrol; -- used like the English challenge: “Who comes there?”

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. condition of heightened watchfulness or preparation for action

Etymologies

  1. French who lives? - a sentry's challenge (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “Those on the qui vive who need to flaunt their with-it-ness in the face of the stodgily au courant have turned to hot, with the extreme of “forwardly fashionable, at the center of attention” expressed as way hot or hot-hot.”

    Simon & Schuster: The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time

  • “On the day fixed for the entrance of the squire and his family, the inhabitants of Sutton were on the qui vive from early in the morning - but nothing came to pass; the most strenuous watchers had retired in despair to the tap-room, where Peter Brocclehurst explained in his most oracular manner, that nothing was more impossible, than for people coming from foreign parts to arrive on the day they fix, - because they are dependent on the winds and the waves which are not under the control of any body: when, unluckily for Peter's theory, on the appointed evening - but when it was quite dark, two travelling-carriages drove rapidly through the town, and turned up the avenue leading to the Manor House.”

    Zoe: The History of Two Lives

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hypernyms (3)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. preparedness
  1. preparation
  1. readiness

hyponyms (3)

Words that are more specific

  1. red alert
  1. air alert
  1. strip alert

reverse dictionary (1)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. qui vive

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Comments

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  • jmjarmstrong JM, though not in way a sentinel, still frequently finds himself demanding "qui vive?" Feb 1, 2009

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‘qui vive’ has been looked up 955 times, loved by 4 people, added to 13 lists, commented on 1 time, and is not a valid Scrabble word.