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Livelihood

Noun CEFR B2
ˈlaɪvlɪhʊd

Definitions

  1. A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
  2. Property which brings in an income; an estate.
  3. Liveliness; appearance of life.
  4. The course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour.

Equivalents

26 more languages

Examples

“an independent livelihood;  to make⟳ / earn⟳ / gain⟳ / win⟳ a good livelihood by the sweat⟳ of one's brow”
“But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…].”
“[…] a Man may as easily know⟳ where to find⟳ one, to teach⟳ him to Debauch, Whore, Game, and Blaspheme, as to teach⟳ him to Write⟳, or Cast⟳ Accompt: ’Tis their Support⟳, and Business; nay, their very Profession, and Livelihood; getting their Living by those Practices, for which they deserve⟳ to forfeit their Lives.”
“1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, No. 42, Monday May 14, p. 245, Trade⟳ […] employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land⟳, and furnishes the poorest of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honest Livelihood.”
“And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find⟳ out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child.”
“[The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close⟳ their stores and turn⟳ their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God.”
“Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide⟳ Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles. The cockle-women jog out over the marshes at low tide, riding on flat, horse-drawn carts.”
“The legal profession believes that client choice is the best way of ensuring standards remain⟳ high, because a lawyer's livelihood depends upon their reputation.”
“Then ſayde Peter: Ananias how is it that ſatan hath filled thyne hert thatt thou ſhuldeſt lye vnto the holy gooſt and kepe awaye parte off the pryce off the lyvelod[…]?”
“[…] the tiranny of her ſorrowes takes all liuelihood from her cheeke.”
“wel said Merlyn I knowe a lord of yours in this land⟳ that is a passyng true man & a feithful & he shal haue the nourysshyng of your child & his name⟳ is sir Ector & he is a lord of fair lyuelode in many partyes in Englond & walys”

CEFR level

B2
Upper Intermediate
This word is part of the CEFR B2 vocabulary — upper intermediate level.
See all B2 English words →

See also

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