life-support system

noun

: an artificial or natural system that provides all or some of the items (such as oxygen, food, water, control of temperature and pressure, disposition of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health

Examples of life-support system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nelson said that will also allow more time to work on the crew capsule’s life-support system. —Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 5 Dec. 2024

Meanwhile Axiom engineers developed the insulation, articulated joints, life-support systems, and more that make an extravehicular spacesuit a sort of form-fitting spacecraft. —Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Oct. 2024

An onboard life-support system will allow astronauts to survive in their suits for up to eight hours. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 16 Oct. 2024

These life-support systems make Earth resilient and stable. —Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

life-support system

noun

: a system that provides all or some of the items (as oxygen, food, water, proper temperature and air pressure, elimination of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health

Medical Definition

life-support system

noun

: a system that provides all or some of the items (as oxygen, food, water, and disposition of carbon dioxide and body wastes) necessary for maintaining life or health: as

a

: one used to maintain the health of a person or animal in outer space, underwater, or in a mine

b

: one used to maintain the life of an injured or ill person unable to maintain certain physiological processes without artificial support