lifeblood

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life·blood

(līf′blŭd′)

1. Blood regarded as essential for life.

2. An indispensable or vital part: Capable workers are the lifeblood of the business.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lifeblood

(ˈlaɪfˌblʌd)

1. (Biology) the blood, considered as vital to sustain life

2. the essential or animating force

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

life•blood

(ˈlaɪfˌblʌd)

n.

1. the blood, considered as essential to maintain life.

2. a life-giving, vital, or animating element: Agriculture is the lifeblood of the country.

[1580–90]

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Noun	1.	lifeblood - the blood considered as the seat of vitality blood - the fluid (red in vertebrates) that is pumped through the body by the heart and contains plasma, blood cells, and platelets; "blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and carries away waste products"; "the ancients believed that blood was the seat of the emotions"
	2.	lifeblood - an essential or life-giving force; "water is the lifeblood of India" force - a powerful effect or influence; "the force of his eloquence easily persuaded them"

lifeblood

noun animating force, critical, life, heart, inspiration, guts (informal), essence, stimulus, driving force, vital spark Coal and steel were the region's lifeblood.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

linfa vitale

lifeblood

[ˈlaɪfblʌd] N → sangre f vital (fig) → alma f, sustento m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

lifeblood

[ˈlaɪfblʌd] n (fig) → élément m moteur

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

lifeblood

[ˈlaɪfˌblʌd] n (fig) → linfa vitale

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

Once I felt the great weight of one of the monsters upon my back and as keen talons sank into my flesh I experienced the frightful sensation of moist lips sucking the lifeblood from the wounds to which the claws still clung.

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It made me almost frantic in my desire to find some way to keep warm and cooling lifeblood in her veins.

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Then they and the priestesses formed in two lines, with their little golden cups in readiness to capture a share of the victim's lifeblood after the sacrificial knife had accomplished its work.

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There was a long line of hogs, with squeals and lifeblood ebbing away together; until at last each started again, and vanished with a splash into a huge vat of boiling water.

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But Tarzan went abroad alone, for Tarzan was a man-thing and sought amusement and adventure and such humor as the grim and terrible jungle offers to those who know it and do not fear it--a weird humor shot with blazing eyes and dappled with the crimson of lifeblood. While others sought only food and love, Tarzan of the Apes sought food and joy.

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Rise up, thou subtle, worldly, selfish, iron-hearted hypocrite, and make thy choice whether still to be subtle, worldly, selfish, iron-hearted, and hypocritical, or to tear these sins out of thy nature, though they bring the lifeblood with them!

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No man knows, till he experiences it, what it is to feel his own lifeblood drawn away into the veins of the woman he loves.

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Tell her that through pain and danger you were faithful, and that, if your lifeblood could have saved me, it would have flowed to its last drop; and tell her that you will be something dearer than a father, and that my blessing is with you both, and that my dying eyes can see a long and pleasant path in which you will journey together."

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KEITH LASLEY insists Motherwell's compensation battle with Columbus Crew for Chris Cadden is crucial to the lifeblood of his club.

Wrecking Crew; Lasley vows Well will fight MLS side for what they're due in Cadden row

'Fishermen make a huge contribution to Scotland's economy and provide the lifeblood for communities' The negative rhetoric from both sides is depressingly familiar, and meanwhile skippers and their crews are left in limbo, wondering what on earth the future holds.

Brexit fiasco leaves fishing fleet in limbo; The Voice of the North

"This is a great thing because STEM is the lifeblood of Anderson and we are a technical organization," Bunch said.

Bosch STEM event featured Legos for learning

He added: "I'm passionate about assisting the development of junior golf in the North East and, let's face it, youngsters are the lifeblood of the game.