Lift | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Lift, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. LIFTED; p. pr. & vb. n. LIFTING.] [Sw. lyfta, Dan. löfte, Icel. lypta, O. H. Ger. luftan, M. & N. H. Ger. lüften, to lift up, properly to raise into the air, from A-S. lyft, Sw., Dan., & Ger. luft, Icel. lopt, Goth. luftus, air. Cf. LIFT, n.]

Sense 1. To raise; to elevate; to bring up from a lower place to a higher; to upheave; — said of material things; as, to lift the foot or the hand; to lift the head.

Sense 2. To elevate; to exalt; to improve in estimation or rank; — said of the soul, or the mental character; usually with up.

The Roman virtues lift up mortal man. Addison.

Sense 3. To cause to swell, as with pride; to elate; — often with up.

Lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 1 Tim. iii. 6.

Sense 4. To bear; to support. [Obs.] Spenser.

Sense 5. To remove from its place; hence, to take and carry away; to remove by stealing; as, to lift a drove of cattle. W. Scott.

Sense 6. (Script.) To elevate for the purpose of crucifying.

When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he. John viii. 28.

To lift up the eyes. (a.) To look; to raise the eyes.

“Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan.” Gen. xiii. 10. (b.) To direct the desires to God in prayer. Ps. cxxi. 1.—To lift up the face, to look with confidence, cheerfulness, and comfort. Job xxii. 26.—To lift up the feet, to come speedily to one's relief. Ps. lxxiv. 3.—To lift up the hand. (a.) To swear, or to confirm by oath. Gen. xiv. 22. (b.) To raise the hands in prayer. Ps. xxviii. 2. (c.) To rise in opposition; to rebel; to assault. 2 Sam. xviii. 28. (d.) To shake off sloth and engage in duty. Heb. xii. 12.—To lift up the hand against, to injure; to oppress. “If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless.” Job xxxi. 21.—To lift up the head. (a.) To raise from a low condition; to exalt. Gen. xl. 13. (b.) To rejoice. Luke xxi. 28.—To lift up the heel against, to treat with insolence. John xiii. 18.—To lift up the horn, to behave arrogantly or scornfully. Ps. lxxv. 4.—To lift up the voice, to cry aloud; to call out, either in grief or joy. “And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept.” Gen. xxi. 16.

Lift or Lifting-bridge, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To try to raise something heavy; to exert the strength for the purpose of raising or bearing. “The body strained by lifting at a weight too heavy.” Locke.

Sense 2. To rise; to be raised or elevated; as, the fog lifts; to seem to rise; as, the land lifts—to a ship approaching it. Marryatt.

Sense 3. To practice theft. [Obs.] Spenser.

Lifting-bridge, a draw-bridge which rises to give passage to vessels, as at a dock entrance, canal, &c.

Lĭft, n.

noun

n. 1. The act of raising or lifting; as, the lift of the feet in walking or running.

That which is to be raised.
Assistance in lifting, and hence assistance in general; as, to give one a lift. [Colloq.]

The goat gives the fox a lift. L’Estrange.

That which assists to lift, as a machine to carry articles up or down; an elevator; a lifter.
A rise; a degree of elevation; as, the lift of a lock in canals.
A movable gate which is removed from the entrance closed by it by being lifted away, instead of being turned upon hinges;—called also lift-gate. [Prov. Eng.]
(Naut.) A rope leading from the mast-head to the extremity of a yard. Its use is to support the yard or raise the end, when occasion requires.
[A-S. lyft. See LIFT, v. t.] The sky; the atmosphere; the firmament. [Scot.]

Still the lift gloamed, and the wind roared. Jeffrey. Dead lift, a lift at the utmost disadvantage, as of a dead body; hence, an extreme emergency; something to be done which tasks all one's powers, or which exceeds the strength; as, to help one at a dead lift. Swift.