live off

verb

lived off; living off; lives off

transitive verb

: to use (something or someone) as the main source of what one needs to survive (such as money or food)

… the indigenous … people, who have inhabited the rain forest of Irian Jaya, living off the land, for thousands of years.

—Eyal Press

… the fish goes into a kind of hibernation, living off its reserves of fat …

—Mark Carwardine

… she is one of the few Iditarod competitors who have turned professional, living off race winnings.

—National Wildlife

… a growing subculture of people who have reduced their spending habits and live off consumer waste.

—Erika Hayasaki

Max lives off his father …

—Harold Beaver

Examples of live off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After sunset, the aircraft lives off those batteries until the sun comes back up, closing a full day-night cycle. — New Atlas, 6 Nov. 2026

How has Brand’s flimflam, wrapped up in the needy personality of an entertainer who lives off clicks, landed in England’s criminal court system? — Luke Jones, Vanity Fair, 5 Nov. 2026

The three Americans currently living off Earth just made sure their electoral voices were heard. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 Nov. 2026

The researchers concluded that the dinosaur likely lived off a diet consisting largely of fleshy fruits produced by flowering plants, also known as angiosperms. — Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 1 Nov. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for live off

• cerenkov
• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff