lifeline

See also: life-line and life line

English

Alternative forms

life-line, life line

Etymology

From life +‎ line.

Pronunciation

enPR: līfʹlīn' IPA^(key): /ˈlaɪfˌlaɪn/
Audio (UK): (file)

Noun

lifeline (plural lifelines)

A line to which a drowning or falling victim may cling.
(by extension) A source of salvation in a crisis.
- 2012, Melissa Rycroft, My Reality, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
  The girls, of course, were my lifeline during this time.
- 2012, Aaron Dixon, My People Are Rising, Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 64:
  Slowly I began to fill up some of the emptiness inside—writing had become my lifeline.
- 2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8:
  The Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom's Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the 'price is right'.
A means or route for transporting indispensable supplies.
- 2012, Daniel F. Harrington, Berlin on the Brink, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 9:
  Planners did not see the access routes as west Berlin's sole lifeline, which now seems instinctive to us.
- 2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50:
  It is no real surprise that half the UK's stations and 5,000 miles of route were recommended to close. Nevertheless, some great mistakes were made in Marples' devil-may-care purge that left commuters stranded and seaside resorts without a lifeline.
(engineering) A system or structure of vital importance to a community.
(nautical) On the deck of a boat, a line to which one can attach oneself to stay aboard on rough seas.
Synonym: jackstay
(underwater diving) A line from the diver to a tender at the surface control point.
Synonym: tether
(palmistry) A particular crease in the palm.
Synonym: line of life

Descendants

→ Japanese: ライフライン (raifurain)

Translations

line to which a drowning or falling victim may cling

Bulgarian: спасително въже n (spasitelno vǎže)
Finnish: pelastusköysi
German: Rettungsleine f
Irish: téad sábhála m, líne tharrthála f
Polish: linia ratownicza f
Swedish: livlina (sv) c
Welsh: rhaff achub f

means of salvation in a crisis

Finnish: oljenkorsi (fi)
French: bouée de sauvetage (fr) f
Welsh: rhaff achub f

means or route for transporting indispensable supplies

Finnish: elämänlanka (fi)
French: cordon ombilical (fr) m (figurative)
German: Lebensader (de) f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: livslinje m or f

Nynorsk: livslinje f

system of vital importance

Finnish: elintärkeä järjestelmä

safety line on the deck of a boat

Finnish: elämänlanka (fi)
Russian: спаса́тельный трос m (spasátelʹnyj tros)
Swedish: livlina (sv) c

(palmistry) crease in the palm — see also line of life

French: ligne de vie (fr) f
Hungarian: életvonal (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Irish: ^{(please verify)} líne tharrthála f