lift - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".

(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)).[1] But perhaps simply from the idea of removing an item from a surface.

lift (third-person singular simple present lifts, present participle lifting, simple past lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) **lift, past participle lifted or (rare, regional, obsolete) **lift or (obsolete) yleft)

  1. (ambitransitive) To raise or rise.
    The fog eventually lifted, leaving the streets clear.
    You never lift a finger to help me!
    • c. 1490, _Of Penance and Confession be master Jhon Yrland_ː
      Liftand (lifting) thy hands and thy eyen to Heaven.
    • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:
      Their walk had continued not more than ten minutes when they crossed a creek by a wooden bridge and came to a row of mean houses standing flush with the street. At the door of one, an old black woman had stooped to lift a large basket, piled high with laundered clothes.
    • 1984 October 12, Janet Maslin, “Blood Simple, A black-comic romp”, in The New York Times, retrieved 9 July 2012:
      A long, late-night tracking shot from one end of the Neon Boot bar to another actually tracks along the surface of the bar itself—and when there is a drunk passed out on the bar, the camera simply lifts up and flies over him, then continues on its route.
    • 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:
      Once it [a snowdrop variety] became established, some bulbs were lifted and passed on to be chipped (i.e. cut into small pieces and grown on).
    1. (transitive) To cause to move upwards.
      • 2011 October 2, Aled Williams, “Swansea 2 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport Wales‎[1]:
        Graham secured victory with five minutes left, coolly lifting the ball over Asmir Begovic.
  2. (transitive, slang) To steal.
    • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:
      “Wilbert Cream is a ... what's the word?” I referred to the letter. “A kleptomaniac […] Does any thought occur to you?” “It most certainly does. I am thinking of your uncle's collection of old silver.” “Me, too.” “It presents a grave temptation to the unhappy young man.” “I don't know that I'd call him unhappy. He probably thoroughly enjoys lifting the stuff.”
  3. (transitive, slang) To source directly without acknowledgement; to plagiarise.
    • 2018, James Lambert, “Anglo-Indian slang in dictionaries on historical principles”, in World Englishes, volume 37, page 258:
      Based on a similarity across a range of Anglo-Indian entries in these three dictionaries, it appears that (along with other lexis) Barrère and Leland (1898) copied this entry from Hotten (1864), who had in turn lifted it directly from Stocqueler (1848).
  4. (transitive, slang) To arrest (a person).
    • 2000, Marie Smyth, Marie-Therese Fay, Personal Accounts From Northern Ireland's Troubles:
      Maybe the police lifted him and he's in Castlereagh [Interrogation Centre] because he'd been lifted three or four times previously and took to Castlereagh. They used to come in and raid the house and take him away.
  5. (transitive) To remove (a ban, restriction, etc.).
  6. (transitive) To alleviate, to lighten (pressure, tension, stress, etc.)
    • 2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport‎[2]:
      The Gunners boss has been heavily criticised for his side's poor start to the Premier League season but this result helps lift the pressure.
  7. (intransitive, especially Scotland) To disperse, to break up.
    • 1832, The Day, page 127:
      About three o'clock in the mornin', the company began to lift, and the room to get thinner and thinner.
    • 1887, George Garden Green, Gordonhaven, by an old fisherman [G.G. Green]., page 49:
      Others thought the bank [of clouds] would "lift," and that it would be a fine "kwait nicht"; and as they were generally unwilling to lose a night's fishing, most of the crews resolved to proceed to sea, though not without serious misgivings […]
    • 1891, Henry Johnston (barrister.), Kilmallie, page 55:
      But Miss Macnee had one important move in reserve. She saw the company was about to 'lift,' as she was pleased to term it, and this move must be made before they separated.
    • 1894, David Storrar Meldrum, The Story of Margrédel: Being a Fireside History of a Fifeshire Family, page 228:
      "Since when, Willy?" Margrédel led him. "Since the regiment lifted." […] She knew that [the person] had left with his regiment.
  8. (informal, intransitive) To lift weights; to weight-lift.
    She lifts twice a week at the gym.
  9. To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
  10. To elevate or improve in rank, condition, etc.; often with up.
  1. (obsolete) To bear; to support.
  2. To collect, as moneys due; to raise.
  3. (category theory, transitive) Given morphisms f {\displaystyle f} {\displaystyle f} and g {\displaystyle g} {\displaystyle g} with the same target: To produce a morphism which the given morphism factors through (i.e. a morphism h {\displaystyle h} {\displaystyle h} such that f = g ∘ h {\displaystyle f=g\circ h} {\displaystyle f=g\circ h}; cf. lift n.etymology 1, noun 18)
  4. (programming) To transform (a function) into a corresponding function in a different context.
    • 2021, Dean Wampler, chapter 2, in Programming Scala, 3rd edition, O'Reilly, →ISBN:
      Finally, we can lift a partial function into a regular (total) function that returns an Option or a Some(value) when the partial function is defined for the input argument or None when it isn't.
  5. (finance) To buy a security or other asset previously offered for sale.
  6. (hunting, transitive) To take (hounds) off the existing scent and move them to another spot.

Lift also has an obsolete form liftand for the present participle. The strong forms were common until the 17th century in writing and still survive in speech in a few rural dialects.

to raise or rise

to steal

to elevate or improve in rank

programming: to transform into a different context

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

  1. An act of lifting or raising.
  2. The act of transporting someone in a vehicle; a ride; a trip.
    Synonym: ride
    He gave me a lift to the bus station.
    • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
      Accordingly, in spite of many grumbles and remonstrances from Summerlee, I ordered an additional tube, which was placed with the other in his motor-car, for he had offered me a lift to Victoria.
  3. (UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, puristic elsewhere) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.
    Synonym: (US, Canada, Australia, Philippines) elevator
    Take the lift to the fourth floor.
    • 1913, Marie Adelaide Belloc Lowndes, The Lodger:
      Even the lift in which the three of them were whirled up to one of the upper floors of the huge building was to the girl a new and delightful experience. Daisy had always lived a simple, quiet life in the little country town where dwelt Old Aunt, and this was the first time a lift had come her way.
  4. An upward force; especially, the force (generated by wings, rotary wings, or airfoils) that keeps aircraft aloft.
    Coordinate term: liftup
  5. (measurement) The difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway, separated by lock.
  6. (historical slang) A thief.
    • 1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 32:
      The lift came into the shop dressed like a country gentleman, but was careful not to have a cloak about him, so that the tradesman could see he had no opportunity to conceal any goods about his person.
  7. (dance) The lifting of a dance partner into the air.
  8. Permanent construction with a built-in platform that is lifted vertically.
  9. (figurative) An improvement in mood.
    • 1981 February 7, “Robert Bobby Bob (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 28, page 14:
      The news rocked us, especially since we were anticipating a lift for our spirits under the grim circumstances.
    • 2010, Anne Baker, With a Little Luck:
      Just to think he had both a mistress and a wife gave him a lift. He needed a lift, for although he'd had promotion, his wasn't an exciting job.
    • 2012 November 17, “Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎[3]:
      The dismissal of a player who left Arsenal for Manchester City before joining Tottenham gave the home players and fans a noticeable lift.
  10. The amount or weight to be lifted.
    What's the maximum lift of this crane?
  11. The space or distance through which anything is lifted.[2]
  12. A rise; a degree of elevation.[2]
    the lift of a lock in canals
  13. A liftgate.
  14. (nautical) A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below, and used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.[2]
  15. (engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.[2]
  16. (shoemaking) A layer of leather in the heel of a shoe.[2]
  17. (horology) That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.[2]
  1. (category theory) A morphism which some given morphism factors through; i.e. given a pair of morphisms f : X → Y {\displaystyle f:X\to Y} {\displaystyle f:X\to Y} and g : Z → Y {\displaystyle g:Z\to Y} {\displaystyle g:Z\to Y}, a morphism h {\displaystyle h} {\displaystyle h} such that f = g ∘ h {\displaystyle f=g\circ h} {\displaystyle f=g\circ h}. (In this case h {\displaystyle h} {\displaystyle h} is said to be a lift of f {\displaystyle f} {\displaystyle f} via Z {\displaystyle Z} {\displaystyle Z} or via g {\displaystyle g} {\displaystyle g}).
  2. (broadcasting) A shorter extract from a commercial/advertisement, able to be used on its own.

the act of transporting someone in a vehicle — see ride

mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people

difference in elevation between the upper pool and lower pool of a waterway

space or distance through which anything is lifted

rise; degree of elevation

engineering: one of the steps of a cone pulley

shoemaking: layer of leather in the heel of a shoe

horology: portion of the vibration of a balance

From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).

Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). Doublet of loft and luft.

lift (usually uncountable, plural lifts)

  1. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) Air.
  2. (UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.
    • 1836, Joanna Baillie, Witchcraft, act 1, page 13:
      No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.
  1. ^ Hlenni in Cleasby/Vigfusson An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874) p. 270
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 “lift”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

lift (definite accusative lifti, plural liftlər)

  1. lift

For pronunciation and definitions of lift – see 𨋢 (“elevator; lift”).
(This term is a variant form of 𨋢).

From English lift.

lift n (singular definite liftet, plural indefinite **lift)

  1. The non-commercial act of transporting someone in a vehicle: ride
  2. boost

lift c (singular definite liften, plural indefinite lifte or lifter)

  1. carrycot
  2. elevator
  3. lift

Borrowed from British English lift.

lift m (plural liften, diminutive liftje n)

  1. a lift, an elevator
  2. a free ride, a lift

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

lift

  1. inflection of liften:
    1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

From British English lift.

lift (genitive lifti, partitive lifti)

  1. lift, elevator
Declension of lift (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative lift liftid
accusative nom.
gen. lifti
genitive liftide
partitive lifti lifteliftisid
illative liftiliftisse liftidesseliftesse
inessive liftis liftidesliftes
elative liftist liftidestliftest
allative liftile liftideleliftele
adessive liftil liftidelliftel
ablative liftilt liftideltliftelt
translative liftiks liftidekslifteks
terminative liftini liftideni
essive liftina liftidena
abessive liftita liftideta
comitative liftiga liftidega

Borrowed from English lift.

lift m (plural lifts)

  1. (obsolete) lift attendant (UK), elevator attendant (US)
    • 1919, Marcel Proust, À l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs:
      Sans la timidité ni la tristesse du soir de mon arrivée, je sonnai le lift qui ne restait plus silencieux pendant que je m'élevais à côté de lui dans l'ascenseur […] .
      Without the timidity or sadness of the evening I arrived, I rang for the lift attendant, who no longer remained silent as I travelled up beside him in the elevator.
  2. (sports) topspin

Borrowed from British English lift.

lift (plural liftek)

  1. lift, elevator
    Synonym: (formal) felvonó
    Hyponym: (a slow, continuously moving lift or elevator) páternoszter

From Dutch lift, from British English lift, from Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz).

lift (plural **lift-lift)

  1. lift, mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building; an elevator
    Synonym: elevator

Pseudo-anglicism. In sense 1, a clipping of English liftboy. In sense 2, a transferred sense of English lift.

lift m (invariable)

  1. lift / elevator operator
  2. (tennis) topspin

From Old English lyft.

lift

  1. left

From Middle English lift, luft, from Old English lyft.

lift

  1. sky, firmament
  2. air, atmosphere

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

lift

  1. act of lifting

Borrowed from British English lift, French lift.

lift n (plural lifturi)

  1. elevator, lift
    Synonym: ascensor
  2. (tennis, table tennis, volleyball) A stroke that gives the ball an upward trajection.

Inherited from Middle Scots lift, from Middle English lift / luft, from Old English lyft.

lift (plural lifts)

  1. sky, firmament

From British English lift.

lȉft m inan (Cyrillic spelling ли̏фт)

  1. lift, elevator
    Synonym: dȉzalo

Derived from British English lift. First attested in the 20th century.[1]

lift m inan (relational adjective liftový)

  1. (colloquial) an elevator, lift
    Synonym: výťah

  2. ^ Králik, Ľubor (2016), “lift”, in Stručný etymologický slovník slovenčiny [Concise Etymological Dictionary of Slovak] (in Slovak), Bratislava: VEDA; JÚĽŠ SAV, →ISBN, page 327

en lift (knapplift (button lift))

Borrowed from English lift.

lift c

  1. a ski lift
    Synonym: skidlift
    ta liften uppför fjället
    take the ski lift up the mountain
    lära sig att åka lift
    learn to ride a ski lift
  2. an aerial work platform
    Synonym: skylift
  3. a ride, a lift (for free, for example when hitchhiking)
    få lift någonstans
    get/hitch a ride somewhere

Compare skjuts.

Borrowed from Russian лифт (lift), from British English lift.

lift (plural liftlar)

  1. elevator, lift

lift (genitive lifta, plural lifts)

  1. elevator
  2. altitude adjustor