- [uncountable] a very strong feeling of liking and caring for somebody/something, especially a member of your family or a friend
- She has earned the love and respect of many people.
- love for somebody/something a mother’s unconditional love for her children
- love of somebody/something love of your country
Extra ExamplesTopics Family and relationshipsa1, Feelingsa1- From John, she received the love she had never received from her father.
- He seems incapable of love.
- They lavish love on Selah, their cat.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-consuming
- burning
- deep
- …
- feel
- have
- experience
- …
- bloom
- blossom
- grow
- …
- affair
- triangle
- life
- …
- for love
- out of love
- in love
- …
- an act of love
- deeply in love
- madly in love
- …
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- [uncountable] a strong feeling of romantic attraction for somebody
- I'm sure you will find true love.
- in love We're in love!
- They're madly in love.
- She has been in and out of love many times.
- in love with somebody She was in love with him.
- They fell in love with each other.
- There wasn't anyone else in his life; he simply fell out of love with her.
- love for somebody They finally expressed their love for each other.
- It was love at first sight (= they were attracted to each other the first time they met).
- It is a story of unrequited love (= love that is not returned).
- romantic/undying/passionate love
- a love song/story
Wordfinder- affair
- date
- go out with somebody
- jealous
- love
- marriage
- partner
- passionate
- relationship
- romantic
Extra ExamplesTopics Feelingsa1- At last she had found true love.
- Does she doubt my love for her?
- He did not know how to express his love for her.
- He didn't return her love.
- I did it for love!
- In his music dramas, love conquers all.
- Love blossomed between the two of them.
- She felt no love for him.
- They publicly declared their love for each other.
- You have my undying love.
- Their love grew with the years.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-consuming
- burning
- deep
- …
- feel
- have
- experience
- …
- bloom
- blossom
- grow
- …
- affair
- triangle
- life
- …
- for love
- out of love
- in love
- …
- an act of love
- deeply in love
- madly in love
- …
- [uncountable, singular] the strong feeling of pleasure that something gives you
- love of something They shared a love of learning.
- love for something her love for her garden
- in love with something He's in love with his work.
- I fell in love with the house.
Extra Examples- He developed a lifelong love of music.
- He had a great love of life.
- He had an abiding love of the English countryside.
- His wealth enabled him to indulge his love of fast cars.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-consuming
- burning
- deep
- …
- feel
- have
- experience
- …
- bloom
- blossom
- grow
- …
- affair
- triangle
- life
- …
- for love
- out of love
- in love
- …
- an act of love
- deeply in love
- madly in love
- …
- [countable] a person, a thing or an activity that you like very much
- Take care, my love.
- He was the love of my life (= the person I loved most).
- I like most sports but tennis is my first love.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- all-consuming
- burning
- deep
- …
- feel
- have
- experience
- …
- bloom
- blossom
- grow
- …
- affair
- triangle
- life
- …
- for love
- out of love
- in love
- …
- an act of love
- deeply in love
- madly in love
- …
- [countable] (British English, informal) a word used as a friendly way of addressing somebody
- Can I help you, love?
- [uncountable] a score of zero (points or games)
- 40–love!
- She won the first set six-love/six games to love.
liking and caring
romantic
pleasure
somebody/something you like
friendly name
in tennis
Word OriginOld English lufu, of Germanic origin; from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit lubhyati ‘desires’, Latin libet ‘it is pleasing’, libido ‘desire’, also by the noun leave and lief.
Idioms
See love in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee love in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishall’s fair in love and war
- (saying) in some situations any type of behaviour is acceptable to get what you want
cupboard love
- (British English, old-fashioned) love that somebody, especially a child, shows towards somebody else in order to get something
(just) for love | (just) for the love of something
- without receiving payment or any other reward
- They're all volunteers, working for the love of it.
for the love of God
- (old-fashioned, informal) used when you are expressing anger and the fact that you are impatient
- For the love of God, tell me what he said!
give/send my love to somebody
- (informal) used to send good wishes to somebody
- Give my love to Mary when you see her.
- Bob sends his love.
head over heels in love
- loving somebody very much
- He's fallen head over heels in love with his boss.
a labour of love
- a hard task that you do because you want to, not because it is necessary
- Writing the book was a labour of love.
love from | (lots of) love (from)
- (informal) used at the end of a letter to a friend or to somebody you love, followed by your name
- Lots of love, Jenny
- See you soon. Love, Steve.
love is blind
- (saying) when you love somebody, you cannot see their faults
make love (to somebody)
- to have sex
- It was the first time they had made love.
not for love or/nor money
- if you say you cannot do something for love nor money, you mean it is completely impossible to do it
- We couldn't find a taxi for love nor money.
there’s little/no love lost between A and B
- they do not like each other
- There's no love lost between her and her in-laws.
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love