Definition of lift:

• To raise; to take up. To " lift" a promissory note is to discharge its obligation by paying its amount or substituting another evidence of debt. To " lift the bar" of the statute of limitations, or of an estoppel. is to remove the obstruction which it interposes, by some sufficient act or acknowledgment
• To raise, elevate, exalt, improve, in rank, condition, estimation, character, etc.; -- often with up.
• A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below; -- used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
• To try to raise. To lift up the eyes, to fix the eyes on; to direct the desires to God. To lift up the head, to raise from a low condition; to rejoice. To lift up the hand, to swear; to raise the hands in prayer; to rise in opposition to; to shake off sloth and engage in duty. To lift up the face, to look to with confidence, cheerfulness, and comfort. To lift up the heel against, to treat with insolence and contempt. To lift up the horn, to behave arrogantly or scornfully. To lift up the feet, to come speedily to one's relief. To lift up the voice, to call out either in grief or joy. See Loft.
• To bear; to support.
• To steal; to carry off by theft ( esp. cattle); as, to lift a drove of cattle.
• To live by theft.
• To raise, elevate, exalt, improve, in rank, condition, estimation, character, etc.; - often with up.
• To raise to a higher point; place in a higher position; to exalt.
• To bring to a higher position: to elevate: to elate: to take and carry away.
• To raise; exalt.
• To raise; elevate; exalt.
• To try to raise something; to exert the strength for raising or bearing.
• To rise; to become or appear raised or elevated; as, the fog lifts; the land lifts to a ship approaching it.
• To exert strength in raising; to rise.
• To try to raise.
• annul by recalling or rescinding; " He revoked the ban on smoking"; " lift an embargo"; " vacate a death sentence"
• move upward; " The fog lifted"; " The smoke arose from the forest fire"; " The mist uprose from the meadows"
• raise from a lower to a higher position; " Raise your hands"; " Lift a load"
• perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face
• take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech; of intellectual property
• invigorate or heighten; " lift my spirits"; " lift his ego"
• To rise, or appear to rise, as mist.
• To raise; to elevate; to exalt; to elate; to take and carry away.
• To raise from the ground; to elevate; to raise in dignity, intellect, or spirit; to strive to raise by strength.
• transportation of people or goods by air ( especially when other means of access are unavailable)
• the act of giving temporary assistance
• a ride in a car; " he gave me a lift home"
• one of the layers forming the heel of a shoe or boot
• a device worn in a shoe or boot to make the wearer look taller or to correct a shortened leg
• a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill
• a wave that lifts the surface of the water or ground
• remove from a surface; " the detective carefully lifted some fingerprints from the table"
• take off or away by decreasing; " lift the pressure"
• remove from a seedbed or from a nursery; " lift the tulip bulbs"
• remove ( hair) by scalping
• put an end to; " lift a ban"; " raise a siege"
• rise upward, as from pressure or moisture; " The floor is lifting slowly"
• call to stop the hunt or to retire, as of hunting dogs
• make audible; " He lifted a war whoop"
• take ( root crops) out of the ground; " lift potatoes"
• take hold of something and move it to a different location; " lift the box onto the table"
• move upwards; " lift one's eyes"
• take illegally; " rustle cattle"
• pay off ( a mortgage)
• The sky; the atmosphere; the firmament.
• To move in a direction opposite to that of gravitation; to raise; to elevate; to bring up from a lower place to a higher; to upheave; sometimes implying a continued support or holding in the higher place; -- said of material things; as, to lift the foot or the hand; to lift a chair or a burden.
• Act of lifting; also, that which is lifted.
• The space or distance through which anything is lifted; as, a long lift.
• Help; assistance, as by lifting; as, to give one a lift in a wagon.
• That by means of which a person or thing lifts or is lifted
• A hoisting machine; an elevator; a dumb waiter.
• An exercising machine.
• A rise; a degree of elevation; as, the lift of a lock in canals.
• A lift gate. See Lift gate, below.
• One of the steps of a cone pulley.
• A layer of leather in the heel.
• That portion of the vibration of a balance during which the impulse is given.
• A lift gate. See gate, below.
• A rope leading from the masthead to the extremity of a yard below; - used for raising or supporting the end of the yard.
• The act of raising to a higher point; high position; as, the proud lift of her head; aid; help; assistance; as, to give anyone a lift in carrying a load; a machine for carrying up or down an elevator.
• Act of lifting: that which is to be raised: that which assists to lift.
• Act of raising; contrivance for raising.
• The act of lifting; that which is raised or hoisted.
• That which lifts or assists in lifting; an elevator, a hook for raising a window- sash, etc.
• The act of lifting; that which is to be raised; assistance in lifting or otherwise; anything which lifts; a rise; a degree of elevation.
• The act of lifting; assistance, as in lifting; that which is to be raised; anything that lifts.

Usage examples for lift

1. Yes, the nippers are used to lift heavy weights, and the woodpecker's foot is used to lift his heavy body in just the same way, by taking hold of a flat, smooth surface.  The Woodpeckers by Fannie Hardy Eckstorm

2. Don't lift your hand.  Gunman's Reckoning by Max Brand

3. They went that way- Give me a lift!  The Plow-Woman by Eleanor Gates

4. He tried to lift his hands but they refused to move.  The Mind Master by Arthur J. Burks