Definitions

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

  • noun Blood regarded as essential for life.
  • noun An indispensable or vital part.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The blood necessary to life; vital blood.
  • noun That which is essential to the existence or strength of something; that which constitutes or gives strength and energy. Also life's-blood, or, preferably, life's blood.
  • noun In pathology, the more or less constant spasmodic quivering of the eyelid or lip: also called life's-blood, live-blood, and cillo.
  • Necessary as blood to life; essential.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The blood necessary to life; vital blood.
  • noun Fig.: That which gives strength and energy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Blood which is needed for continued life; blood regarded as the seat of life.
  • noun figuratively That which is required for continued existence or function.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the blood considered as the seat of vitality
  • noun an essential or life-giving force

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word lifeblood.

Examples

  • In a speech on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Britain should look beyond the scandal and implement changes that will guarantee freedom of the press, which he described as the "lifeblood" of democracy, but also ensure accountability through robust corporate governance, and a solid framework that fosters diversity of ownership of media organizations.

    unknown title 2011

  • In a speech on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Britain should look beyond the scandal and implement changes that will guarantee freedom of the press, which he described as the "lifeblood" of democracy, but also ensure accountability through robust corporate governance, and a solid framework that fosters diversity of ownership of media organizations.

    unknown title 2011

  • In a report entitled, Development Without Freedom [1], HRW sketched out the architecture of a vast kleptocracy (government of thieves) whose lifeblood is continuous and massive infusion of foreign aid.

    Alemayehu G. Mariam: Ethiopia: Feed Them and Bleed Them Alemayehu G. Mariam 2010

  • The conservative blogosophere, which had been Alex Knepper's lifeblood, is alight with spurious innuendo.

    Michael Tracey: Pedophilia Accusations in the Conservative Blogosphere: How the Right Abandoned One of Their Brightest Michael Tracey 2010

  • The conservative blogosophere, which had been Alex Knepper's lifeblood, is alight with spurious innuendo.

    Michael Tracey: Pedophilia Accusations in the Conservative Blogosphere: How the Right Abandoned One of Their Brightest Michael Tracey 2010

  • Traditional media folks believe the web is parasitic, destructively so, sucking the lifeblood from the host.

    Death of the Regional Newspaper Bureau in Washington - Swampland - TIME.com 2008

  • Through policies of increasing its military-industrial-financial interest, it continues to purse its quivering bourgeois lips, bare its imperialist fangs, and suck the lifeblood from the open veins of South America and other regions of the globe. (p. 23)

    A Review of Capitalists and Conquerors, and an exchange 2007

  • Through policies of increasing its military-industrial-financial interest, it continues to purse its quivering bourgeois lips, bare its imperialist fangs, and suck the lifeblood from the open veins of South America and other regions of the globe. (p. 23)

    April « 2007 « Bill Ayers 2007

  • The evidence, she says, lies in the fact that innovation is the long term lifeblood of a company.

    Designing Companies 2006

  • In a speech on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said Britain should look beyond the scandal and implement changes that will guarantee freedom of the press, which he described as the "lifeblood" of democracy, but also ensure accountability through robust corporate governance, and a solid framework that fosters diversity of ownership of media organizations."

    Scandalized Britain ponders press reform 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.