Livelihood

/ˈlaɪvlihʊd/ · noun

Meaning

A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income)..

Definitions by Sense

1. A means of providing the necessities of life for oneself (for example, a job or income).
2. (now rare) Property which brings in an income; an estate.
3. (obsolete) Liveliness; appearance of life.
4. (obsolete) The course of someone's life; a person's lifetime, or their manner of living; conduct, behaviour.

Example Sentences

an independent livelihood;  to make / earn / gain / win a good livelihood by the sweat of one's brow

1716, Joseph Addison, The Free-Holder, London: D. Midwinter and J. Tonson, No. 42, Monday May 14, p. 245, Trade […] employs Multitudes of Hands both by Sea and Land, and furnishes the poorest of our Fellow-Subjects with the Opportunities of gaining an honest Livelihood.

The legal profession believes that client choice is the best way of ensuring standards remain high, because a lawyer's livelihood depends upon their reputation.

But now when Philtra ſaw my lands decay, And former liuelod fayle, ſhe left me quight[…].

[…] a Man may as easily know where to find one, to teach him to Debauch, Whore, Game, and Blaspheme, as to teach him to Write, or Cast Accompt: ’Tis their Support, and Business; nay, their very Profession, and Livelihood; getting their Living by those Practices, for which they deserve to forfeit their Lives.

And now he’s dead, and left her a widow, and she is staying here; and we are racking our brains to find out some way of helping her to a livelihood without parting her from her child.

[The Orthodox Jewish shopkeepers] could be seen behind their counters, wearing black skullcaps, full beards, and long earlocks, eking out their meager livelihoods and dreaming of Shabbat and festivals when they could close their stores and turn their attention to their prayers, their rabbi, their God.

Broad, flat marshes on the Loughor Estuary provide Pen-clawdd with its basic livelihood - cockles. The cockle-women jog out over the marshes at low tide, riding on flat, horse-drawn carts.

Synonyms for livelihood

Antonyms for livelihood

Related Words

Word Forms

• livelihoods
• livelod
• lyuelode
• lyvelod

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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