lifetime

«lifetime» in Mova's school dictionary: alive — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

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

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

• 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.