live by

phrasal verb

lived by; living by; lives by

: 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

: 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 Over a public holiday last month, about 300 tourists arrived daily for four days, standing in a line for photos that coiled down the street, said Mitsuo Kato, 86, who lives by the bridge. —

Yan Zhuang, New York Times, 7 June 2024 Early humans didn’t keep a food diary and didn’t live by a certain diet. —

Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 30 May 2024 Thomas Murawski Rule shirkers Brooklyn: Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are all men of privilege who live by a different set of rules than the rest of us. —

Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 24 May 2024 The game will be streamed live by iPost Sports and will be available there for the following two months. —

Steve Fryer, Orange County Register, 28 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for live by

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'live by.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.