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

Prior to moving into the Card Home, Stenberg lived by herself not far from her current address. —Joshua Zatulskis, Hartford Courant, 25 May 2025

The Champions League belongs to the world of money and celebrity; the frictionless lives lived by the one per cent of the one per cent; a world of private jets and black Mercedes Sprinter vans. —Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 21 May 2025

Jessi and Demi as sinners makes sense to me, as you’re generally considered a sinner on this show if you’ve been divorced and do not live by all tenets of Mormonism. —Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 15 May 2025

Gutierrez-Romine has also written on race and medicine in Jim Crow California as lived by Dr. Edna Griffin (1905–1992), Pasadena’s first Black female physician. —The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 12 May 2025

Rhymes for live by

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