ELIXIR OF LIFE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does elixir of life mean? 

• ELIXIR OF LIFE (noun)
  The noun ELIXIR OF LIFE has 1 sense:

1. a hypothetical substance believed to maintain life indefinitely; once sought by alchemists

  Familiarity information: ELIXIR OF LIFE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELIXIR OF LIFE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hypothetical substance believed to maintain life indefinitely; once sought by alchemists

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Hypernyms ("elixir of life" is a kind of...):

elixir (a substance believed to cure all ills)

 Context examples 

Under the guidance of my new preceptors I entered with the greatest diligence into the search of the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life; but the latter soon obtained my undivided attention.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The modern masters promise very little; they know that metals cannot be transmuted and that the elixir of life is a chimera but these philosophers, whose hands seem only made to dabble in dirt, and their eyes to pore over the microscope or crucible, have indeed performed miracles.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)