live by

phrasal verb

lived by; living by; lives by

1

: to agree with and follow (something, such as a set of beliefs)

He tried to live by his faith.

a principle I try to live by

2

: to survive by (doing something)

They were an ancient people who lived by hunting and gathering.

Examples of live by in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Only after the worst mass extinction of all time, as Earth’s ecosystems struggled to recover from intense global warming spurred by volcanoes, did reptiles began to live by the shoreline and become ever more at home in the water. —Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2025

What’s the goal of this raid on Social Security, the nation’s premier anti-poverty program and one whose beneficiaries live by the tens of thousands in every congressional district in the land? —Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025

Cartoons Hate Her quotes an X user who berated her for arguing that single women can be happy living by themselves. —Constance Grady, Vox, 14 Apr. 2025

Based on the information the pawn shop owner gives him, Joe is able to track George down to a strip of desert near the coal mine where he’s been living by himself, with only a horse as a companion. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2025

Rhymes for live by

• abscissae
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi
• certify