lifetime
part of speech
noun (a lifetime, lifetimes)
meaning for a pupil
1) The whole time that a person or animal is alive. tree →
2) The time that a thing lasts or works: «the lifetime of a battery». tree →
3) (informal) A very long time: «I waited a lifetime!» tree →
sense in the lessons
Interpretation: Tradition reads the rule against marrying two sisters "in her lifetime" as meaning the ban lasts only while the first wife lives. In the primary lessons: In science: the lifetime of a mayfly is very short, a tortoise's very long. In stories: «a once-in-a-lifetime chance» means a rare chance. In everyday life: «a lifetime guarantee». Phrases: «in my lifetime», «once in a lifetime», «the trip of a lifetime», «a lifetime of».
examples
- And thou shalt not take a woman to her sister, to be a rival to her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her lifetime. (Torah LEV.18.18, JPS 1917) tree →
- A tortoise's lifetime can be over a hundred years. tree →
- Seeing a whale was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. tree →
- The battery has a lifetime of about two years. tree →
- We waited a lifetime for the bus! tree →
- Many changes happened in Grandma's lifetime. tree →
- It was the trip of a lifetime. tree →
- Let us look at him as he was in his lifetime. tree →
note
Countable. One word. «Once in a lifetime» (hyphenated before a noun: a once-in-a-lifetime trip). Compare «lifespan» (how long something usually lives).
In the corpora
- Sharks lose teeth all the time and grow new ones from the rows behind, some tens of thousands in a lifetime.
- Some friendships last a lifetime, kept alive by lots of small calls and visits over years.
- Some friendships last a lifetime.
- Friendships last a lifetime when people keep showing up for each other.
- Real rulers lived ordinary lifetimes and passed power to others, and a change of ruler often changed a country's direction.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «lifetime» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.