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lifeblood

[ lahyf-bluhd ]

/ ˈlaɪfˌblʌd /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR lifeblood ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the blood, considered as essential to maintain life: to spill one's lifeblood in war.

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

Origin of lifeblood

First recorded in 1580–90; life + blood

Words nearby lifeblood

life-saving, life-size, life-support, life-support system, life-threatening, lifeblood, lifeboat, lifeboatman, lifecast, lifeful, lifeguard

Example sentences from the Web for lifeblood

This is the heart of the agent recruitment process that is the lifeblood of CIA today.

CIA Agents Assess: How Real Is ‘Homeland’? |Chuck Cogan, John MacGaffin |December 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
This is because immigrants are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy.

How Immigrants Will Save Social Security |Eleanor Clift |November 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
ISTANBUL, Turkey — The lifeblood of the death-dealing Islamic State is diesel fuel.

Is NATO Ally Turkey Tacitly Fueling the ISIS War Machine? |Thomas Seibert |September 8, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Negotiation and compromise are the lifeblood of democracy, not poison to the body politic.

Border Kids Crisis—Impotent Congress |John Avlon |July 10, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

As an evangelical, that sort of contrarianism is in my lifeblood.

I’m a Christian, and Ken Ham Doesn’t Speak for Me |Brad Kramer |February 5, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Not while my hands are free, my body quick With lifeblood, and my heart a man's.

Virginia, A Tragedy |Marion Forster Gilmore
Hundreds of thousands of men dyed its soil with their lifeblood.

America's War for Humanity |Thomas Herbert Russell
Survey was the soul and lifeblood of the medical services supplied by Hospital Earth to the inhabited planets of the Galaxy.

Contamination Crew |Alan Edward Nourse
Business was crippled; industry was squeezed dry of its lifeblood.

Readings in Money and Banking |Chester Arthur Phillips
De very stream of lifeblood in me was dryin' up, it 'peared lak.

Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 1 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for lifeblood

lifeblood

/ (ˈlaɪfˌblʌd) /

noun

the blood, considered as vital to sustain life

the essential or animating force