See Also: ski lift(dictionary)
lift-off(dictionary)
lift(encyclopedia)
lift(dictionary)
lift-off(dictionary)
lift(2)(dictionary)
lift(1)(dictionary)
Lift(finance)
Lift(money)
lift(medicine)

lift(2) (iou)



lift noun2. ME.
[from LIFT verb.]
I.
The quantity or weight, esp. of paper, that can be lifted at one time. Also (Scot.), a large quantity. ME.
A. Trollope I have used up three lifts of notepaper already.
A particular joint or cut of meat, esp. of beef. dial. E16.
A hingeless gate that is removed or opened by lifting. dial. L17.
An area of rising ground. E19.
J. R. Green A mere lift of higher ground with a few grey cottages dotted over it.
A fingerprint that has been lifted. US. M20.
II.
Nautical. In pl. Ropes reaching from each masthead to their respective yard-arms to steady and suspend the ends. ME.
Any of the layers of leather etc. in the heel of a boot or shoe. Also, a built-up heel or device worn in a boot or shoe to make the wearer appear taller. L17.
An apparatus for raising or lowering people or things from one floor or level to another; an ascending chamber or compartment; a hoist. Also, the well or vertical opening in which such an apparatus works. M19.
express lift: see EXPRESS adjective. paternoster lift: see PATERNOSTER noun 4.
Aldous Huxley Lenina Crowne shot up seventeen stories, turned to the right as she stepped out of the lift.
b. An apparatus for carrying people up and down a mountain etc. M20.
chair-lift, ski-lift, etc.
A set of pumps in a mine; the section of a shaft occupied by one such set. M19.
III.
The action or an act of lifting; a raising, a rising; the distance through which a thing is lifted and moved; the distance or extent to which something rises. LME.
dead lift: see DEAD adjective etc.
E. K. Kane We continue perched up, just as we were after our great lift of last December. J. R. Lowell An almost imperceptible lift of the eyebrow.
b. A free ride as a passenger in another person's vehicle. E18.
E. Waugh A man in a newspaper van offered me a lift as far as Elstree.
c. The removal of a corpse from a house for burial or cremation; the starting of a funeral procession. Scot. & north. L19.
An act of lifting or stealing. Formerly also, a shift, a trick. obsolete exc. dial. & slang. L16.
fig. A rise in social status, prosperity, etc.; promotion; a rise in price; an act of helping, or a circumstance that helps, someone or something to a higher or more advanced position. E17.
Leigh Hunt I shall set myself more on a level with these gentry..by a lift in my fortunes. Manchester Examiner The extension of the franchise..has given an incalculable forward lift to the principles of the Alliance. Times A lift in the dividend at Wilson (Connelly) earned its shares a rise.
b. An elevating influence or effect; a cheering or encouraging influence or effect, a sense of elation. L18.
Practical Gardening Fresh flowers are wonderful for..giving us a lift when we feel a bit low. P. Theroux The sugary breakfast..gave him a lift.
The action of cutting a pack of cards; each of the portions into which a pack is divided by cutting. L17-E18.
Engineering. The action of lifting a load through a vertical distance, or one of several successive distances. Also (Mining), a set of inclined workings following the slope of the beds. E18.
The act or habit of carrying the head, neck, eyes, etc., aloft; elevated carriage. M19.
R. D. Blackmore The proud lift of her neck was gone.
Prosody. A stressed element in a line of alliterative verse. L19.
a. The upward pressure which the air exerts on an aircraft etc. counteracting the force of gravity; the force on an aerofoil at right angles to its direction of motion through a fluid; upwardly-moving air which provides sufficient upward force to support a glider or carry it higher (freq. in in lift). E20.
Nature Most flying insects depend, for their lift and thrust, on conventional aerofoil action.
b. The (maximum) weight that an aircraft can raise. E20.
Daily Telegraph The Puma..helicopter, which has a total lift of up to 5,500 lb.
Dancing. A movement in which a dancer lifts another in the air. E20.
K. Ambrose With the invention of each new ballet, new lifts are devised.
Transport by air; a number of people or an amount of supplies so transported. M20.
air-lift.
The establishment by a sheepdog of control over a flock of sheep. M20.
Audio. A relative amplification of signals within a particular part of the audible range, esp. the bass. M20.
Sport. A movement by which a weightlifter lifts a weight or a wrestler lifts an opponent. M20.
IV.
A person who lifts or takes away and appropriates something; a thief. slang. L16-M17.
Comb.: lift-bridge a bridge on a canal etc. that may be raised to allow the passage of a boat; lift coefficient Aerodynamics a ratio representing the lift developed by unit area of an aerofoil in relation to the air speed; lift-fan a fan in a hovercraft which provides the air-cushion; lift-gate (a) = sense 2 above; (b) a gate opening on to a lift in a building etc.; (c) US in a motor vehicle, a hinged back panel that opens upwards, a hatchback; lift-slab attrib. adjective designating a labour-saving system of building whereby precast components are raised by jacks to the position desired; lift truck = fork-lift truck s.v. FORK noun; lift valve a valve which opens by the valve head moving (vertically) out of its (horizontal) seat; lift-web a strip of webbing joining the harness and the rigging lines of a parachute; lift wire Aeronautics a wire on a biplane or light monoplane that extends from the wing to the fuselage and is designed to transmit part of the lift to the latter during flight.
liftless adjective not provided with a lift E20.