Word family noun love lover loveliness. lovey adjective lovable ≠ unlovable loveless lovely loving unloved verb love adverb lovingly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlovelove1 /lʌv/ ●●● S1 W1 verb 1 romantic attraction [transitive not in progressive]LOVE to have a strong feeling of affection for someone, combined with sexual attraction I love you, Tracy. He was the only man she had ever loved.2 care about [transitive not in progressive]LOVE to care very much about someone, especially a member of your family or a close friend I love my grandad so much. I’ve always loved children.much-loved/well-loved In 1941, her much-loved sister was killed in an accident. Many people feel guilty after the death of a loved one.3 like/enjoy [transitive]ENJOY/LIKE DOING something to like something very much or enjoy doing something very much I love carrots. Jeff loves his work. I love the way she sings that song. Amy had always loved New York.love doing something I love going out to restaurants.love to do something We all love to talk about ourselves.I’d love to (do something) spoken (=used to say that you would really like to do something) ‘Would you like to come swimming with us?’ ‘I’d love to.’ I’d have loved to have stayed till the end. I’d love to know just why they did that.► see thesaurus at like4 loyalty [transitive not in progressive]LIKE somebody OR something to have a strong feeling of loyalty to your country, an institution etc Dad’s always loved the navy.5 → I love it!6 → somebody’s going to love something → loverGrammarPatterns with love• You love someone or something: I love my children.She loves jazz. • You love doing something: She loves listening to jazz.• You love to do something: She loves to listen to jazz in her spare time. ✗Don’t say: She loves listen to jazz.• Love doing something and love to do something both mean the same thing. You use love to do especially when saying that someone does something regularly or often.Using the progressive• The usual rule is that love is not used in the progressive. ✗Don’t say: I am loving my children. | She is loving jazz. • In spoken English, people sometimes say I’m loving something they have just seen or heard: I’m loving his new show (=I like it a lot).THESAURUSlove to like someone very much and care a lot about them – used especially about people in your family or someone who you are sexually attracted toI love my wife and children very much.Have you ever said ‘I love you’ and not really meant it?adore to love and admire someone very muchWhen she was a child she adored her father.be in love (with somebody) to feel that you love someone and want to have a romantic relationship with themWe were both young and very much in love.Karen was in love with a man who was much older than her.be infatuated with somebody to love someone a lot and keep thinking about them, in a way that seems silly because you do not know them very wellHe became infatuated with a woman he met at a conference.have a crush on somebody to love and be sexually attracted to someone you are not having a relationship with, usually someone olderJane had a crush on the German teacher.be crazy about somebody informal to love someone very much – used for emphasisShe’s crazy about you.be devoted to somebody to love someone very much and give them a lot of attentionHe was devoted to his wife and his children.dote on somebody written to love someone very much, especially a much younger family member, and behave very kindly to themHe dotes on his grandchildren. → See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
love• a much-loved author• Tom was the only man she had ever loved.• You needn't love boxing-or even care for it-to appreciate Toole's highly accomplished debut.• We still love each other very much.• And even crazier to have told him that she loved him.• He loved his stepdaughter as if she were his own child.• It is a heady, exhilarating feeling, and I love it.• Cassie works in the theatre, and she really loves it.• I really believed that my parents didn't love me.• Ben loves swimming, playing tennis, those kinds of thing.• It's incredible how much she loves those two kids.• I love to hear applause between movements.• She loved to sit in the park and feed the ducks.• Because he just loves to write.• I love you, Betty.• I love you so much now, it hurts!• Just relax and let me love you.• He stroked her hair and murmured, "I love you."loved one• How would anybody feel about the death of a loved one?• About 30 years after the debut of the original, the spies who loved one another are married.• Volunteers in the sitting service have helped families lead relatively normal lives while caring for their loved one at home.• And some wouldn't dream of helping out, however disgusting their loved ones' dishes.• Beware of carrying a subtle ploy too far today or of letting a loved one get away with playing emotional games.• The death or incapacitating illness of a loved one is always hard to take.• As we have discussed, the survivors need to feel involved in their loved one's dying process as much as possible.love doing something• Katie loves playing tennis.lovelove2 ●●● S1 W1 noun 1 for family/friends [uncountable]LOVE a strong feeling of caring about someone, especially a member of your family or a close friend OPP hate, hatred What these kids need is love and support.love for a mother’s love for her child2 romantic [uncountable]LOVE a strong feeling of liking someone a lot combined with sexual attractionlove for Their love for each other grew deeper every day. Tara is madly in love with you.3 person you love [countable]LOVE someone that you feel a strong romantic and sexual attraction to He was her first love.the love of your life (=the person that you feel or felt the most love for)4 pleasure/enjoyment a) [singular, uncountable]ENJOY/LIKE DOING something a strong feeling of pleasure and enjoyment that something gives youlove of/for my love of nature He had a great love of music. I fell in love with Amsterdam the very first time I visited the city. b) [countable]ENJOY/LIKE DOING something something that gives you a lot of pleasure and enjoyment Sailing was her great love.5 → make love (to/with somebody)6 → send/give your love (to somebody), 7 → love (from somebody)/lots of love/all my love8 → (my) love9 → be a love and .../... there’s a love10 → there is no love lost between somebody and somebody11 tennis [uncountable]DST an expression meaning ‘no points’, used in the game of tennis 12 → not for love or/nor money13 → love triangle14 → for the love of God → a labour of love at labour1(4)COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: a strong feeling of liking someone a lot combined with sexual attractionverbsbe in loveAre you in love with her?fall in love (=start being in love)I fell in love with her the minute I saw her.find love (=meet someone to love)I never thought I would find love.return somebody’s love (=love someone who loves you)Estella does not return Pip’s love.phraseslove at first sight (=when you love someone as soon as you meet them)For Marion and Ron it was love at first sight.very much in loveThey were obviously very much in love.madly/deeply in love (=very much in love)I married Dan because I was madly in love.head over heels in love (=very much in love)The two of them fell head over heels in love.love is blind (=used to say that people do not notice the faults of the person they love)Love is blind, I guess. How else could he stand to be with her?adjectivestrue love (=real love)She felt that she had finally found true love.real loveYou could see real love in their eyes.romantic loveRomantic love was not always the reason for marriage.sexual loveVenus was the Roman goddess of sexual love.unrequited love (=love for someone who does not love you)She had a secret, unrequited love for Harrison.undying love (=love that does not stop)She and I swore undying love.passionate loveHe wrote about his passionate love for her.love + NOUNa love song/storya tragic love storya love letterShe found a love letter from another woman in his wallet. THESAURUSlove noun [uncountable] a feeling of liking someone very much and caring a lot about them – used about people in your family, or someone you feel sexually attracted toAll children need love, attention, and encouragement.We don’t need words to express our love for each other.affection noun [uncountable] a gentle feeling of love which makes you want to be kind to someone and show them that you love them – used especially about friends and members of your familyMy mother never showed us us any affection.Alison and I had been at school together, and I felt great affection for her.devotion noun [uncountable] very strong love for someone in which you want to give them a lot of attention and look after them – used especially about strong feelings of love for your wife, husband, children etcHis recovery is largely due to the devotion of his wife and familypassion noun [uncountable] a strong and exciting feeling of love for someone you are extremely sexually attracted toHe loved her still, with just the same passion as he always had.There was no passion in their relationship.infatuation noun [countable, uncountable] a strong feeling of love for someone, in which you cannot stop thinking about them, and which seems silly because you do not know them very wellShe hoped that his ridiculous infatuation would soon wear off.His infatuation with Diane seemed to be growing.a childhood infatuationromance noun [uncountable] the feeling of loving someone and the nice things you do to show this – used about someone you are sexually attracted toThe romance had gone out of their relationship.In the UK, one in ten people have found romance over the Internet.crush noun [countable] a very strong feeling of love and sexual attraction for someone such as a teacher or a famous person, especially when there is no chance of you having a relationship with that person because you are much younger than them She had a teenage crush on one of her teachers.I had a big crush on Tom Cruise when I was growing up.a schoolgirl crush Examples from the Corpus
love• I used to read books about love.• The authoritative, dedicated, and benign conductor was Williams Llewellyn, whose knowledge and love for the score was obvious.• Only his tears spoke of brotherly love.• Jack was her first love.• She was never able to express her love for Henry.• And though they regularly clashed, they were undoubtedly in love.• All children need love, attention, and encouragement.• Finally, it never hurts to wear our own love of reading on our sleeve.• She nourishes a secret, unrequited love for Harry.love for• a mother's love for her childfirst love• We love because he first loved us.• Roland heard her voice again, remembered all that had happened, and fell for his first love.• Brown wrote his novels and faded back into his first love like a man whose ego needed fresh air and nothing more.• I must have been about fifteen when I received my first love letter.• The sea was my first love, but now the hills have an equal claim to my affection.• Elizabeth Taylor was my first love.• Ah, the innocence of first love.• The sweet, tinkling sound of a music box can stir recollections of everything from childhood to first love.love of/for• Jerrod has a love for the game of chess.• A love of flying Statistics aside, Steve Butler admits that his job sometimes scares him.• Wasn't she used by now to disguising her love for him?• Despite his love of distraction, Minton in his career as yet showed no loss of impetus.• Van Leer inherited some of his father's acumen but none of his money and certainly none of his love for money.• All played directly to his love of the theatrical.• Had already admitted to herself the extent of her own love for him.• On the other hand they are telling us we are not playing for the money but the love of the sport.• It's possible that he's trying to test your love for him.Origin love2 Old English lufu 