liv·ing (l?v??ng) adj. 1. Possessing life: famous living painters; transplanted living tissue. 2. In active function or use: a living language. 3. Of persons who are alive: events within living memory. 4. Relating to the routine conduct or maintenance of life: improved living conditions in the city. 5. Full of life, interest, or vitality: made history a living subject. 6. True to life; realistic: the living image of her mother. 7. Still in place as part of a larger mass. Used especially of rock: “In a great hall with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of carven wood” (J. R. R. Tolkien). “Carved into a sandstone cliff face towered over by 18,000-foot peaks stood the colossal Buddhas: the universe, mapped in human form, cut from the living rock” (Matthew Power). 8. Having motion suggestive of life. Used especially of water: “The rippling of living waters, the song of birds, the joyous confidence of flowers, the calm, undisturbable grandeur of the oaks, mark this place … as one of the Lord’s most favored abodes of life and light” (John Muir). 9. Informal Used as an intensive: beat the living hell out of his opponent in the boxing match. n. 1. The condition or action of maintaining life: the high cost of living. 2. A manner or style of life: preferred plain living. 3. A means of maintaining life; livelihood: made their living by hunting. 4. Chiefly British A church benefice, including the revenue attached to it. Synonyms: living, alive, live2, animate, vital These adjectives mean possessed of or exhibiting life. Living, alive, and live refer principally to organisms that are not dead: living plants; the happiest person alive; a live canary. Animate applies to living animal as distinct from living plant life: Something animate was moving inside the box. Vital refers to what is characteristic of or necessary to the continuation of life: You must eat to maintain vital energy. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.living (?l?v??) adj1. a. possessing life; not deadb. (as collective noun preceded by the): the living. 2. having the characteristics of life (used esp to distinguish organisms from nonliving matter)3. currently in use or valid: living language. 4. seeming to be real: a living image. 5. (Biology) (of animals or plants) existing in the present age; extant. Compare extinct16. geology another word for live2157. (Theatre) presented by actors before a live audience: living theatre. 8. (prenominal) (intensifier): the living daylights. n9. the condition of being alive10. the manner in which one conducts one’s life: fast living. 11. the means, esp the financial means, whereby one lives12. (Ecclesiastical Terms) Church of England another term for benefice13. (modifier) of, involving, or characteristic of everyday life: living area. 14. (modifier) of or involving those now alive (esp in the phrase living memory)Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014liv?ing (?l?v ??) adj. 1. having life; being alive. 2. in actual existence or use; extant: living languages. 3. active or thriving; vigorous; strong: a living faith. 4. pertaining to or suitable for human activity or existence: living space. 5. of or pertaining to living persons: within living memory. 6. lifelike; true to life: The statue is the living image of him. 7. being in its natural state or place: living rock; a living brook. 8. burning or glowing; live. 9. very; absolute (used as an intensifier): to scare the living daylights out of someone. n. 10. the act or condition of a person or thing that lives. 11. the means of maintaining life; livelihood: to earn a living. 12. a particular manner, state, or status of life: luxurious living. 13. the living, living persons collectively. 14. Brit. the benefice of a cleric. [before 900] liv?ing?ly, adv. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.