lifeline

plural lifelines · alternative life-line · alternative life line

1. A line to which a drowning or falling victim may cling.
2. broadlyA source of salvation in a crisis.

   The girls, of course, were my lifeline during this time.

   2012, Melissa Rycroft, My Reality, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Slowly I began to fill up some of the emptiness inside—writing had become my lifeline.

   2012, Aaron Dixon, My People Are Rising, Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 64

   The Government has thrown a lifeline to Alstom's Derby Works, with an offer of an order for ten Class 345 nine-car electric multiple units (EMUs) for the Elizabeth line - but only if the 'price is right'.

   2024 May 1, Mel Holley, “Network News: Elizabeth line '345s' offer a lifeline for Derby Works”, in RAIL, number 1008, page 8

3. A means or route for transporting indispensable supplies.

   Planners did not see the access routes as west Berlin's sole lifeline, which now seems instinctive to us.

   2012, Daniel F. Harrington, Berlin on the Brink, University Press of Kentucky, →ISBN, page 9

   2 more examples

   It is no real surprise that half the UK's stations and 5,000 miles of route were recommended to close. Nevertheless, some great mistakes were made in Marples' devil-may-care purge that left commuters stranded and seaside resorts without a lifeline.

   2023 March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 50

   Oil and liquefied natural gas tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz carry around 20% of the world’s supply. But for countries on the Persian Gulf, the waterway is more than just an energy route – it’s a lifeline for more than 100 million people.

   2026 March 20, Eleni Giokos, “The Strait of Hormuz is about more than just oil. It feeds 100 million people”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 23 Mar 2026

4. engineeringA system or structure of vital importance to a community.
5. nauticalOn the deck of a boat, a line to which one can attach oneself to stay aboard on rough seas.

   Synonyms: jackstay

6. divingA line from the diver to a tender at the surface control point.

   Synonyms: tether

7. palmistryA particular crease in the palm.

   Synonyms: line of life