lifetime
(ˈlaɪftaɪm)
Forms: see life and time.
1. The time that one's life continues, duration of life. Also attrib. or as adj., for the duration of a life, during one's life, while one is alive. Phrases: all in a (or one's) lifetime, implying resignation to whatever happens; of a lifetime, implying that an event, situation, or thing will never be equalled or repeated.
| c 1220 Bestiary 696 Wu laȝelike ȝe [ðe turtre] holdeð luue al hire lif time. c 1350 Will. Palerne 999, I graunt him greþli..mi loue for euer al mi lif time. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxxii. 251 Alle these forsayd thynges trewelych for to kepe..alle his lyf time. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 5 In hys lyfe tyme by hys owne marcial affayres. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. viii. §571. 248 Cause them to be given or delivered unto them in their live times. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. vii. 80 Unless they..restore..them to their favour in their life-time. 1849 N. Kingsley Diary (1914) 44 My consolation is that it is all in my lifetime and thus make myself quite contented. Ibid. 52 This must count as ‘all in my lifetime’. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 183 A lifetime might be passed happily in such pursuits. 1898 F. P. Dunne Mr. Dooley in Peace & War 187 Well, tubby sure, 'tis thryin' to be dhrivin' a coal wagon or a sthreet-car; but 'tis all in a lifetime. 1929 Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking vii. 222 But let me tell you, my lad, that you're throwing away the laugh of a lifetime. Ibid. ix. 314 It must be a cocktail. The cocktail of a lifetime. 1961 ― Ice in Bedroom xxiii. 188 You take one step in its direction and you're going to get the headache of a lifetime. 1962 Amer. Speech XXXVII. 16 New England did contribute the largest number of white lifetime migrants to the state of New York. 1974 Country Life 2 May 1065/2 The gifts tax..would be a tax on lifetime gifts. |
2. = life n. 8 c.
| 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Jrnls. I. 167 Durable for whatever may be the lifetime of the world. 1920 Discovery Apr. 111/1 The helium now found in a mineral can be only a fraction..of the total amount which has been generated within it, and which alone could give a true estimate of its life-time. 1939 Physical Rev. LV. 506/1 The lifetime for a mesotron at rest has been estimated..to be of the order 2-4 × 10-6 sec. 1950 Ibid. LXXVII. 153/1 (heading) Lifetimes of mercury and potassium atoms in excited states. 1965 H. I. Ansoff Corporate Strategy (1968) ii. 24 If it turns out that the lifetime of some projects exceeds the budget period, the period is extended for purpose of analysis. 1968 [see life n. 8 c]. 1968 Times 29 Nov. 13/3 The running-down rate of the pulsar implies that it has a lifetime of the same order as the Crab nebula. 1972 Sci. Amer. May 50/1 The Viking spacecraft will consist of an orbiter and a lander, each with a lifetime of many months. 1974 Daily Tel. 17 Apr. 17/4 There is no possibility of action on the lines of the group's proposals in the lifetime of the present Parliament. |