1
a(1)
: strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
maternal love for a child
… share their love and support for one another …—
Angel Saunders
Angel Saunders
(2)
: attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers
people searching for love
… asking couples to share videos capturing the essence of love and romance …—Selena Kuznikov
—often used before another nounSelena Kuznikova love poem/song
(3)
: affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests
her love for her best friend
The coach earned the love and respect of his team.
b
: an assurance of affection
give her my love
Animal lovers … responded …, sending love and donations to the rescue canine.—Kelli Bender
Kelli Bender2
: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion
their love of the sea
… bet big on the public's love of women's sports.—Rebecca Schneid
Rebecca Schneid3
a
: the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration
Baseball was his first love.
b(1)
: a beloved person : darling
his lady love
… a music video … which shows the artist spending a day alone, enjoying her own company while thinking about her love.—Sigal Ratner-Arias
—often used as a term of endearment
Sigal Ratner-Arias
(2)
British
—used as an informal term of address
… greeting her neighbours with a cheery cry of 'Hiya, love'.—James Walton
James Walton4
a
: unselfish loyal and benevolent (see benevolent sense 1a) concern for the good of another: such as
(1)
: the concern of God for humankind
divine love
… he saw the whole world forming one vast symmetrical expression of God's power and love.—James Joyce
James Joyce
(2)
: empathy, concern, or care for others
brotherly love
b
: a person's adoration of God
5
: a god (such as Cupid or Eros) or personification of love
6
: an amorous episode : love affair
their secret love
7
: sexual intercourse : copulation
making love
conjugal love
8
: a score of zero (as in tennis)
loved; loving
1
: to feel great affection for : to hold dear : cherish
You know how much I love my family.
… it would be an understatement to say people really love their pets.—cbsnews.com
cbsnews.com2
a
: to feel a lover's passion, devotion, or tenderness for
He loves her, but she doesn't love him back.
3
a
: to like or desire actively : take pleasure in
He loved to play the violin. = He loved playing the violin.
"Would you like to join us?" "Yes, I'd love to."
I don't love this color on me.
… shoppers love how versatile the dress is.—Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon
b
informal
: to be very amused by
I just love it when politicians say that they don't care about polls.
4
: to thrive in
The rosebush loves sunlight.
: to feel affection or experience desire
'Tis Better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all.—Alfred Lord Tennyson
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Phrases
at love
: holding one's opponent scoreless in tennis
1
: feeling romantic love for someone
… parents who married young and are still in love decades later.—Jenny Singer
Jenny SingerThey fell in love, wed and built a life together …—Rohan Preston
Rohan Preston2
: feeling great interest, affection, or enthusiasm for something
… a chance to fall in love with sports … that we might otherwise never watch.—Melissa Kirsh
Melissa Kirsh
Word Icons
Examples of love in a Sentence
Noun
… Eddie sees Vince's pure love of pool, and after years of thinking of the game as merely a hustle, the older man suddenly falls back in love with the game himself.
—Maureen Dowd, New York Times Magazine, 28 Sept. 1986
Aunt Polly knelt down and prayed for Tom so touchingly, so appealingly, and with such measureless love in her words and her old trembling voice, that he was weltering in tears again, long before she was through.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
Allworthy thus answered: " … I have always thought love the only foundation of happiness in a married state, as it can only produce that high and tender friendship which should always be the cement of this union … "
—Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749
Children need unconditional love from their parents.
He was just a lonely man looking for love.
Verb
People loved him for his brashness and talent, his crazy manglings of the English language, his brawling, boyish antics … and I loved him, too, I loved him as much as anyone in the world.
—Paul Auster, Granta, Winter 1994
Lying awake, listening to the sound of his father's breathing, he knew there was no one in the world he loved so much.
—William Maxwell, New Yorker, 15 May 1989
I love either rushing off into abstractions, or shamelessly talking personalities.
—Elizabeth Bowen, letter, 28 Apr. 1923
"Nay," said Elizabeth, "this is not fair. You wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body. I only want to think you perfect, and you set yourself against it. Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good will. You need not. There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well."
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813
She obviously loves her family very much.
You have to love in order to be loved.
He swore that he loved her madly.
She said she could never marry a man she didn't love.
Maureen Dowd, New York Times Magazine, 28 Sept. 1986
Aunt Polly knelt down and prayed for Tom so touchingly, so appealingly, and with such measureless love in her words and her old trembling voice, that he was weltering in tears again, long before she was through.
—Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer, 1876
Allworthy thus answered: " … I have always thought love the only foundation of happiness in a married state, as it can only produce that high and tender friendship which should always be the cement of this union … "
—Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, 1749
Children need unconditional love from their parents.
He was just a lonely man looking for love.
Verb
People loved him for his brashness and talent, his crazy manglings of the English language, his brawling, boyish antics … and I loved him, too, I loved him as much as anyone in the world.
—Paul Auster, Granta, Winter 1994
Lying awake, listening to the sound of his father's breathing, he knew there was no one in the world he loved so much.
—William Maxwell, New Yorker, 15 May 1989
I love either rushing off into abstractions, or shamelessly talking personalities.
—Elizabeth Bowen, letter, 28 Apr. 1923
"Nay," said Elizabeth, "this is not fair. You wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body. I only want to think you perfect, and you set yourself against it. Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good will. You need not. There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well."
—Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813
She obviously loves her family very much.
You have to love in order to be loved.
He swore that he loved her madly.
She said she could never marry a man she didn't love.
Recent Examples on the Web
Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
For gospel icons Karen Clark-Sheard and Kierra Sheard-Kelly, the magic of Christmas is found at the family table, where food, faith, and love come together in perfect harmony.
—Essence, 3 Nov. 2025
Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
The kids will love eating their veggies in the form of this tasty, comforting soup.
—Phoebe Evans, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for love
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Noun
His plays gleefully plumb the wickedest aspects of the human psyche, delivering tales of relentless conquest, Jewish perfidy, deals with the devil, and gay love.
—Isaac Butler, The Atlantic, 3 Nov. 2025
For gospel icons Karen Clark-Sheard and Kierra Sheard-Kelly, the magic of Christmas is found at the family table, where food, faith, and love come together in perfect harmony.
—Essence, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
In addition to Hemsworth, Chalotra and Allan reprising their starring roles, season 5 of The Witcher will likely feature other characters fans have grown to love.
—Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
The kids will love eating their veggies in the form of this tasty, comforting soup.
—Phoebe Evans, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for love
Cite this Entry
“Love.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
love
1 of 2 noun1
: a quality or feeling of strong or constant affection for and dedication to another
motherly love
2
a
: attraction based on sexual desire : the strong affection and tenderness felt by lovers
b
: a beloved person : darling
3
a
: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion
love of the sea
b
: the object of attachment or devotion
4
: a score of zero in tennis
love
2 of 2 verb
loved; loving
1
: to hold dear : cherish
2
a
: to feel a lover's passion, devotion, or tenderness for
b
: to touch or stroke lightly
3
: to like or desire actively : take pleasure in
loved to play the violin
4
: to grow well in
the rose loves sunlight
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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