Definition of “love” - English Dictionary

American
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“love” in American English

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love verb
us ​ /lʌv/

love verb (LIKE SOMEONE)

› [ T ] to have a strong affection for someone, which can be combined with a strong romantic attraction:

Susan loved her brother dearly.
"I love you and want to marry you, Emily," he said.

love verb (LIKE SOMETHING)

› to like something very much:

[ T ] My kids love cartoons.
[ + to infinitive ] We’d love to own our own home.
love noun
us ​ /lʌv/

love noun (LIKING SOMEONE)

fall in love

› If you fall in love you begin to love someone:

She’s fallen in love and made plans to marry.

› [ U ] You can write love/love from/all my love/lots of love before your name at the end of letters to family and friends.

in love

› A person who is in love is experiencing a romantic attraction for another person:

I think he's in love with Anna.

(Definition of “love” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

English
Contents

“love” in English

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love verb [ T ]
uk ​ /lʌv/ us ​ /lʌv/

love verb [ T ] (LIKE SOMEONE)

A1 to like another adult very much and be romantically and sexually attracted to them, or to have strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family:

I love you.
Last night he told me he loved me.
I've only ever loved one man.
I'm sure he loves his kids.

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Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

love verb [ T ] (LIKE SOMETHING)

A1 to like something very much:

She loves animals.
I absolutely love chocolate.
He really loves his job.
[ + -ing verb ] I love skiing.
Love it or hate it, reality TV is here to stay.
would love

A2 used, often in requests, to say that you would very much like something:

I'd love a cup of coffee if you're making one.
[ + to infinitive ] She would dearly love to start her own business.
UK I'd love you to come to dinner next week.
US I'd love for you to come to dinner next week.

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Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Grammar

Hate, like, love and preferWe can use hate, like, love and prefer with an -ing form or with a to-infinitive: …

Idiom(s)

love sb to bits
love me, love my dog
love noun
uk ​ /lʌv/ us ​ /lʌv/

love noun (LIKING SOMEONE)

B1 [ U ] the feeling of liking another adult very much and being romantically and sexually attracted to them, or strong feelings of liking a friend or person in your family:

"I've been seeing him over a year now." "Is it love?"
Children need to be shown lots of love.
"I'm seeing Laura next week." "Oh, please give her my love" (= tell her I am thinking about her with affection).
Maggie asked me to send her love to you and the kids (= tell you that she is thinking about you with affection).
informal How's your love life (= your romantic and/or sexual relationships) these days?

B1 [ C ] a person that you love and feel attracted to:

He was the love of my life.
She was my first love.

› [ as form of address ] UK informal used as a friendly form of address:

You look tired, love.
That'll be four pounds exactly, love.

A2 [ U ] informal also love from, all my love used before your name at the end of letters, cards, etc. to friends or family:

See you at Christmas. Love, Kate.
be in love

B1 to love someone in a romantic and sexual way:

I'm in love for the first time and it's wonderful.
They're still madly in love (with each other).
fall in love (with sb)

B1 to start to love someone romantically and sexually:

I was 20 when I first fell in love.

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Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Idiom(s)

be no/little love lost between
for love nor money
make love
make love to sb

(Definition of “love” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

Examples

Examples for 'love'

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In this backdrop how a love story finds its place has been shown in the movie.
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They leave each other saying they love each other.
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The four cornerstones that uniquely define the values of the organization are love, loyalty, harmony, and trust.
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Despite their political differences, she has fallen in love with him.
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The developers wanted to make games that we grew up playing and that we love playing.
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He is much enamored with her but wonders if love can develop between two former enemies.
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First he needs love and to get the love he needs money.
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Bo-hee replies that he never gave her enough strong love.
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Anyone who does not love animals does not love people either.
From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English
He has been in love and devoted to her for a long time but his affections have not been reciprocated.
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She falls in love with him later on.
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She still wears her wedding ring and still cares for him and is not above testing his love for her.
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Rudolfe befriends them and enters into a chaste love affair with the girl.
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He, however follows her to her house and tells her that he is in love with her.
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How will she be able to love him when he is not able to understand her needs?
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Blogs about "love"

What a lovely dress! Paying and accepting compliments.

by Liz Walter,

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