life of its own
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
a life of its own (plural lives of their own)
- (idiomatic) An independent existence with some characteristics of life.
- take on a life of its own
- 1996, George Steiner, Tolstoy or Dostoevsky: An Essay in the Old Criticism, page 181:
- Sartre rejects the notion that an imagined character possesses, in any rational sense, "a life of its own".
- 2002, John Seely Brown, Paul Duguid, The Social Life of Information, page 18:
- […], information takes on not only a speed of its own, but a life of its own.
- 2003, Kristin Hunter Lattany, The Lakestown Rebellion, page 185:
- A massive hangover with a life of its own kept Fess pinned to his bed most of Sunday.
Usage notes[edit]
- Not to be confused with take one's own life.
Further reading[edit]
- “take on a life of its own”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.