live for

phrasal verb

lived for; living for; lives for
1
: to wait or hope for (something) very eagerly
I live for the day when we'll be together!
2
: to think of (something) as the most important or enjoyable part of one's life
She lives for her work.
3
: to think of (something) as a reason for being alive
He's depressed and feels as if he has nothing left to live for.

Examples of live for in a Sentence

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The party is often associated with the community of pieds-noirs, European settlers who, as French rule crumbled, left Algeria, where many of them had lived for generations. Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 2 June 2025 His father was a civil engineer for the US Department of Defense, and the family lived for periods in West Germany, South Korea, as well as in North Carolina and New Jersey. Tom Teicholz, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025 In the tropics, a mango tree can grow to a height and spread of 100 feet and live for several centuries. Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 24 May 2025 But most of the action is focused on San Francisco, where McNally has lived for decades. Paul Liberatore, Mercury News, 23 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for live for

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Cite this Entry

“Live for.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/live%20for. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.

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