noun
Meaning 1
A prisoner sentenced to life in prison.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
lifer
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈlaɪfə(ɹ)/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aɪfə(ɹ)
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CMU ARPABET: L AY1 F ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A prisoner sentenced to transportation for life.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A person with a singular career path, especially in the military.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A species seen for the first time by a birder or other naturalist who is keeping a list of all the species they have seen.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, birdwatching, natural-sciences, ornithology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: life bird
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
a prisoner serving a term of life imprisonment
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: convict, con, inmate, yard bird, yardbird
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English life Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English lifer From life + -er.
Across languages
Translations
21 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Finnish: elinkautisvanki — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- German: Lebenslänglicher — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- German: Lebenslängliche — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Hungarian: életfogytiglanra ítélt rab — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Hungarian: életfogytos — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Japanese: 囚人 (shūjin) — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Russian: пожи́зненник (požíznennik) — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Russian: пожи́зненница (požíznennica) — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Spanish: vidal — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Swedish: livstidsfånge — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Swedish: livstidare — prisoner sentenced to life in prison
- Finnish: kantapeikko — person who makes a career in the military
- German: Berufssoldat — person who makes a career in the military
- German: Berufssoldatin — person who makes a career in the military
- Hungarian: hivatásos katona — person who makes a career in the military
- Hungarian: továbbszolgáló — person who makes a career in the military
- Hungarian: zupás — person who makes a career in the military
- Swedish: trotjänare — person who makes a career in the military
- Catalan: bimbo — bird species
- Finnish: uusi bongaus — bird species
- Finnish: elämänpinna — bird species