lift

lift [lift]

vt.

[ME liften < ON lypta < lopt, air, akin to OE lyft, Ger luft, Du lucht]

1. to bring up to a higher position; raise

2. to pick up and move or set [lift the box down from the shelf]

3. to hold up; support high in the air

4. to raise in rank, condition, dignity, spirits, etc.; bring to a higher level; elevate; exalt

5. to pay off (a mortgage, debt, etc.)

6. to end (a blockade, siege, etc.) by withdrawing forces

7. to revoke or rescind (a ban or order)

8. to loosen and remove (bulbs, seedlings, or root crops) from the soil

9. Informal to remove from its proper place; esp., to plagiarize [to lift a passage from another writer]

10. Slang to steal

11. to subject to a FACE-LIFT

12. to transport, esp. by aircraft

13. Golf to pick (a ball) up, as from an unplayable position

14. Mil. to change the direction of or cease (fire)

vi.

1. to exert strength in raising or trying to raise something

2. to rise and vanish; be dispelled [the fog lifted]

3. to become raised or elevated; go up

4. to stop for a time

n.

1. a lifting, raising, or rising; upward movement

2. the amount lifted at one time

3.

a) the distance through which something is lifted

b) the extent of rise or elevation

4. lifting power or influence

5. elevation of spirits or mood

6. elevated position or carriage, as of the neck, head, etc.

7. a ride in the direction in which one is going

8. help of any kind

9. a swell or rise in the ground

10. the means by which a person or thing is lifted; specif.,

a) any layer of leather in the heel of a shoe

b) Brit. ELEVATOR

c) any of various devices used to transport people up or down a slope

d) a device for lifting an automobile for repairs

11. Aeron. the component of total air force acting on a body, as an airfoil or wing, which is perpendicular to the direction of flight and is exerted, normally, in an upward direction

12. Mining a set of pumps in a mine

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lift up one's voice

to speak out loudly

lifter

n.

SYN.- LIFT, in its general literal sense, implies the use of some effort in bringing something up to a higher position [help me lift the table ]; RAISE, often interchangeable with LIFT, specifically implies a bringing into an upright position by lifting one end [to raise a flagpole ]; ELEVATE is now a less frequent synonym for LIFT or RAISE [the balloon had been elevated 500 feet ]; REAR² is a literary equivalent of RAISE [the giant trees reared their branches to the sky ]; HOIST implies the lifting of something heavy, usually by some mechanical means, as a block and tackle, crane, etc. [to hoist bales of cotton into a ship ]; BOOST is a colloquial term implying a lifting by or as by a push from behind or below [boost me into the tree ]. All these terms are used figuratively to imply a bringing into a higher or better state [to lift, or hoist, one's spirits, to raise one's hopes, to elevate one's mind, to rear children, to boost sales ] –ANT. LOWER¹