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love
[ luhv ]
noun
- a strong feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, such as for a parent, child, friend, or pet:
He bent and kissed his newborn daughter on the brow, his heart full of love and gratitude.
Synonyms: friendliness, regard, inclination, liking
- a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for another person:
The couple’s ardent love for each other, poured out in these love letters, survived their wartime separation.
Synonyms: tenderness, adoration, passion, warmth, predilection, fondness
- sexual passion or desire.
- active, self-giving concern for the well-being of others:
Love of one's neighbor is the greatest virtue.
What this suffering world needs is more love.
- a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart:
I long to be with you, my love.
He was my first and only love.
- (used as a term of endearment, affection, or the like):
Would you like to see a movie, love?
- a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour:
It's the story of her many loves, told through the eyes of a journalist.
- Love, a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
- strong enthusiasm or liking for anything:
His huge personal library testified to his love of books.
- a thing for which one has a strong enthusiasm or liking:
The theater was her great love.
- Religion. the benevolent affection and deep compassion of God for all creatures, or the reverent devotion returned from them to God.
- Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
- a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.
verb (used with object)
- to have a warm personal attachment to or deep affection for:
All her students love her.
I fuss over you, I know, but I love you and I want you to be safe.
Synonyms: like
- to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection, often mingled with sexual desire, for (another person).
- to feel a strong liking for or take great pleasure in; enjoy actively and with enthusiasm:
I love music.
He's loving his new job.
- to feel or show active, self-giving concern for:
Love your neighbor—even the one you don’t like.
- to feel or express reverent devotion toward; adore.
- to need or require; benefit greatly from:
Plants love sunlight.
- to have sexual intercourse with.
- to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
verb (used without object)
- to have love or affection for another person; be in love:
Those who have never loved will not understand what I am saying.
verb phrase
- to hug and cuddle:
She loves that little guy up every chance she gets.
love
/ lʌv /
verb
- tr to have a great attachment to and affection for
- tr to have passionate desire, longing, and feelings for
- tr to like or desire (to do something) very much
- tr to make love to
- intr to be in love
noun
- an intense emotion of affection, warmth, fondness, and regard towards a person or thing
- ( as modifier )
love song
love story
- a deep feeling of sexual attraction and desire
- wholehearted liking for or pleasure in something
- Christianity
- God's benevolent attitude towards man
- man's attitude of reverent devotion towards God
- Alsomy love a beloved person: used esp as an endearment
- informal.a term of address, esp but not necessarily for a person regarded as likable
- (in tennis, squash, etc) a score of zero
- fall in loveto become in love
- for lovewithout payment
- for love or moneyused with a negative in any circumstances
I wouldn't eat a snail for love or money
- for the love offor the sake of
- in lovein a state of strong emotional attachment and usually sexual attraction
- make love
- to have sexual intercourse (with)
- to engage in courtship (with)
Other Words From
- out·love verb (used with object) outloved outloving
- o·ver·love verb overloved overloving
Word History and Origins
Origin of love1
Word History and Origins
Origin of love1
Idioms and Phrases
- for love,
- out of devotion, affection, liking, or enjoyment.
- without compensation:
He volunteered at the animal shelter for love.
- for the love of, in consideration of; for the sake of:
For the love of mercy, stop that noise!
- in love with, feeling deep affection or passion for (a person, idea, occupation, etc.); enamored of:
I was in love with the girl next door.
Anyone spending that many hours here without pay must be in love with their work!
- in love, infused with or feeling deep affection or passion:
He was a youth always in love.
- make love,
- to engage in sexual activity.
- to embrace and kiss as lovers.
There was no love lost between the two brothers.
More idioms and phrases containing love
- all's fair in love and war
- course of true love
- fall in love
- for the love of
- labor of love
- make love
- misery loves company
- no love lost
- not for love or money
- puppy love
- somebody up there loves me
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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