| English Dictionary |
LOVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does love mean?
• LOVE (noun)
The noun LOVE has 6 senses:
1. a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
2. any object of warm affection or devotion
3. a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
4. a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction
5. a score of zero in tennis or squash
6. sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people
Familiarity information: LOVE used as a noun is common.
• LOVE (verb)
The verb LOVE has 4 senses:
1. have a great affection or liking for
2. get pleasure from
3. be enamored or in love with
4. have sexual intercourse with
Familiarity information: LOVE used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A strong positive emotion of regard and affection
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Context example:
children need a lot of love
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
emotion (any strong feeling)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "love"):
agape; agape love (selfless love of one person for another without sexual implications (especially love that is spiritual in nature))
loyalty (feelings of allegiance)
caring; lovingness (a loving feeling)
heartstrings (your deepest feelings of love and compassion)
benevolence (disposition to do good)
devotedness; devotion (feelings of ardent love)
calf love; crush; infatuation; puppy love (temporary love of an adolescent)
amorousness; enamoredness (a feeling of love or fondness)
ardor; ardour (intense feeling of love)
filial love (the love of a child for a parent)
agape ((Christian theology) the love of God or Christ for mankind)
adoration; worship (a feeling of profound love and admiration)
Antonym:
hate (the emotion of intense dislike; a feeling of dislike so strong that it demands action)
Derivation:
love (have a great affection or liking for)
love (be enamored or in love with)
love (get pleasure from)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any object of warm affection or devotion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
love; passion
Context example:
he has a passion for cock fighting
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
object (the focus of cognitions or feelings)
Derivation:
love (have a great affection or liking for)
love (be enamored or in love with)
love (get pleasure from)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A beloved person; used as terms of endearment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
beloved; dear; dearest; honey; love
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
lover (a person who loves someone or is loved by someone)
Derivation:
love (have a great affection or liking for)
love (be enamored or in love with)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Synonyms:
erotic love; love; sexual love
Context example:
she was his first love
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
concupiscence; eros; physical attraction; sexual desire (a desire for sexual intimacy)
Derivation:
love (have sexual intercourse with)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A score of zero in tennis or squash
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Context example:
it was 40 love
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
score (a number that expresses the accomplishment of a team or an individual in a game or contest)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
love; love life; lovemaking; making love; sexual love
Context example:
he has a very complicated love life
Hypernyms ("love" is a kind of...):
sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)
Derivation:
love (have sexual intercourse with)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it loves Past simple: loved
Past participle: loved
-ing form: loving
Sense 1
Meaning:
Have a great affection or liking for
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Context example:
She loves her boss and works hard for him
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "love"):
love (be enamored or in love with)
care for; cherish; hold dear; treasure (be fond of; be attached to)
dote (shower with love; show excessive affection for)
adore (love intensely)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Antonym:
hate (dislike intensely; feel antipathy or aversion towards)
Derivation:
lover (an ardent follower and admirer)
love (any object of warm affection or devotion)
lover (a person who loves someone or is loved by someone)
loveable (having characteristics that attract love or affection)
love (a beloved person; used as terms of endearment)
love (a strong positive emotion of regard and affection)
lovable (having characteristics that attract love or affection)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Get pleasure from
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Synonyms:
enjoy; love
Context example:
I love cooking
Hypernyms (to "love" is one way to...):
like (find enjoyable or agreeable)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "love"):
get off (enjoy in a sexual way)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Sentence example:
They love him to write the letter
Derivation:
love (any object of warm affection or devotion)
love (a strong positive emotion of regard and affection)
lover (a person who loves someone or is loved by someone)
lover (an ardent follower and admirer)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Be enamored or in love with
Classified under:
Verbs of feeling
Context example:
She loves her husband deeply
Hypernyms (to "love" is one way to...):
love (have a great affection or liking for)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "love"):
romance (have a love affair with)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Sentence example:
Sam cannot love Sue
Derivation:
lovable (having characteristics that attract love or affection)
love (any object of warm affection or devotion)
love (a strong positive emotion of regard and affection)
love (a beloved person; used as terms of endearment)
loveable (having characteristics that attract love or affection)
lover (a person who loves someone or is loved by someone)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Have sexual intercourse with
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
bang; be intimate; bed; bonk; do it; eff; fuck; get it on; get laid; have a go at it; have intercourse; have it away; have it off; have sex; hump; jazz; know; lie with; love; make love; make out; roll in the hay; screw; sleep together; sleep with
Context example:
Were you ever intimate with this man?
Hypernyms (to "love" is one way to...):
copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)
Verb group:
make out; neck (kiss, embrace, or fondle with sexual passion)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "love"):
have; take (have sex with; archaic use)
fornicate (have sex without being married)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
love (sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people)
love (a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction)
lover (a significant other to whom you are not related by marriage)
Context examples
I do believe the dear soul thought I might be jealous lest my poor dear should have fallen in love with any other girl.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
“And I give you warning, Wolf Larsen, that I may forget love of my own life in the desire to kill you if you go too far in maltreating those poor wretches.”
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
He loved to run down dry watercourses, and to creep and spy upon the bird life in the woods.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
In some way we became friends, until before my month was up I was as much in love as a man could be.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A lover evidently, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must feel to you?
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"If you really love him, what would be happiness to him would be your happiness also," she urged.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
"That's loving our neighbor better than ourselves, and I like it," said Meg, as they set out their presents while their mother was upstairs collecting clothes for the poor Hummels.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Like moths, we all love best to flutter in the light.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Of course not: I need not ask you; because you never felt love.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
And in the business of love the three-year-old, who had made this his first adventure upon it, yielded up his life.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins." (Native American proverb, Cheyenne)
"The thief stole from the thief, God looked on and got astonished." (Armenian proverb)
"Fire burns where it strikes." (Cypriot proverb)