- lift
- lift vb 1 Lift, raise, rear, elevate, hoist, heave, boost are comparable when meaning to move from a lower to a higher place or position.Lift often carries an implication of effort exerted to overcome the resistance of weight{
lift a large stone
}{lift a pail of water from the ground
}{lift a child to one's shoulders
}but it may be extended to whatever rises high by natural or artificial means or processes{high lifted up were many lofty towers— Spenser
}{a high conical peak . . . lifted some four thousand feet into the sky— Kyne
}or to something immaterial that rises or is made to rise (as in spirit, in feeling, or in aspiration){the news lifted a weight from his mind
}{he was lifted by his simple love of all creatures ... far above right and wrong— Webb
}Raise may suggest less effort than lift, but it carries a stronger implication of bringing something to the vertical or to a high position for which it is fitted by nature or intended function; thus, one raises a pole by setting it on end, but one lifts it by picking it up; a flag is raised to the top of its staff, but it is lifted when held high enough to be seen{those arts which were destined to raise our Gothic cathedrals— Coulton
}In extended use raise may imply a lifting to a higher level (as of worth, efficiency, or accomplishment){the most wholehearted attempt ever made to raise the individual to his highest power—Day Lewis
}Rear is often used in place of raise{the mast we rear— Pope
}{the maypole was reared— Irving
}but, unlike raise, it can be used intransitively with the meaning to raise itself or, in the case of a horse, to raise its forelegs{the . . . storm clouds reared on high— Millay
}{horses, rearing and prancing— Anderson
}Elevate may be used in place of lift or raise in certain collocations where it does not seem unduly formal or pretentious{an eagle rising with wings elevated—FoxDavies
}{mobile field pieces . . . were elevated for range in even more slow and primitive ways— Wintringham
}but, in general, the word suggests exaltation, uplifting, or enhancing{elevate a priest to a bishopric
}{elevate one's standards of literary taste
}{his renown soared still higher. He had elevated the white man's name in Africa again— James Cameron
}Hoist implies raising something heavy aloft, often by such mechanical means as a tackle{hoist a cargo into a ship
}{hoist a sail
}{Mrs. Malins was helped down the front steps by her son and Mr. Browne and, after many maneuvers, hoisted into the cab— Joyce
}{it takes five power Winches to hoist this mammoth expanse of canvas— Monsanto Mag.
}Heave implies a lifting upward or onward with strain or effort usually by impulsion from without{a boat heaved high by a wave
}{nature's way of creating a mountain peak- first the heaving up of some blunt monstrous bulk of rumpled rock— Montague
}Boost implies lifting by or as if by means of a push or other help from below, usually without the suggestion of strain or effort found in hoist and heave{boost prices
}{friendly critics boosted the sales of his books
}{no matter how depressed he might be, a few cocktails always boosted his spirits
}{David tenderly boosted Elimelech up the steps and through the door— Douglas
}Analogous words: *rise, arise, ascend, levitate, mount, soar, tower, rocket, surge: *exalt, magnify, aggrandize: heighten, enhance, intensifyAntonyms: lowerContrasted words: reduce, lessen, diminish, *decrease: *abase, debase, degrade, demean, humble, humiliate: *depress, weigh, oppress2 purloin, filch, *steal, pilfer, pinch, snitch, swipe, cop
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
