qui vive
[ kee veev ]
/ ki ˈviv /
who goes there? (used as a sentry's challenge)
Idioms for qui vive
on the qui vive,
on the alert; watchful: Special guards were on the qui vive for trespassers.
Origin of qui vive
1720–30; < French: literally, (long) live who? (i.e., on whose side are you?)
Words nearby qui vive
quezon city,
quezon y molina,
qui nhon,
qui nhong,
qui transtulit sustinet,
qui vive,
quibble,
quibbling,
quibdó,
quiberon,
quiche
British Dictionary definitions for on the qui vive
qui vive
/ (ˌkiː ˈviːv) /
noun
on the qui vive
on the alert; attentive
Word Origin for qui vive
C18: from French, literally: long live who?, sentry's challenge (equivalent to "To whose party do you belong?" or "Whose side do you support?")
Idioms and Phrases with on the qui vive
on the qui vive
On the alert, vigilant, as in The police have been warned to be on the qui vive for terrorists. This expression, containing the French words for “[long] live who?” originated as a sentinel's challenge to determine a person's political sympathies. The answer expected of allies was something like vive le roi (“long live the king”). It was taken over into English with its revised meaning in the early 1700s, the first recorded use being in 1726.