life-form
noun
ˈlīf-ˈfȯrm 
-ˌfȯrm
: the body form that characterizes a kind of organism (such as a species) at maturity
also
: a kind of organism
Examples of life-form in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hundreds of fossils uncovered in southern China’s province of Yunnan reveal that at least some of the life-forms scientists had thought arose in the Cambrian period were alive and thriving millions of years earlier, in an era known as the Ediacaran period.
—
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 2 Apr. 2026
Plants occupy the base of Earth's food webs and are consumed directly or indirectly by all higher life-forms, thereby functioning as the major source of food for humans and other animals.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
There was SimEarth in 1990, in which the player tunes a planet’s atmospheric conditions, sculpts its landmasses, plunks down life-forms.
—Eric Boodman, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
His research team came up with a framework that, instead of looking for a specific type of life-form, looks at patterns in collections of chemicals and evaluates whether they could have been produced by processes like metabolism and evolution.
—Mary Magnuson, The Conversation, 20 Mar. 2026
Postnature, then, demands a subjectivity that is plural and decenters the human; a postnatural ethics seeks to blur the boundaries between human and nature, crafting new metaphors for the permeability and porousness of life-forms.
—Catherine Taft, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Each of these creatures of light multiplied into subqueries and side queries, a glowing menagerie of exotic life-forms crisscrossing the void, their wakes and ripples gradually illuminating the entirety of the submarine cave.
—Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025
If they are broken by clumsy feet, these millennia-old life-forms can die.
—Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
By applying engineering principles to biology, and with the help of some nifty robotic equipment, Ginkgo has created a factory for churning out exotic life-forms, the likes of which have never before been seen on this planet.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Nov. 2016
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Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 2 Apr. 2026
Plants occupy the base of Earth's food webs and are consumed directly or indirectly by all higher life-forms, thereby functioning as the major source of food for humans and other animals.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026
There was SimEarth in 1990, in which the player tunes a planet’s atmospheric conditions, sculpts its landmasses, plunks down life-forms.
—Eric Boodman, Vulture, 25 Mar. 2026
His research team came up with a framework that, instead of looking for a specific type of life-form, looks at patterns in collections of chemicals and evaluates whether they could have been produced by processes like metabolism and evolution.
—Mary Magnuson, The Conversation, 20 Mar. 2026
Postnature, then, demands a subjectivity that is plural and decenters the human; a postnatural ethics seeks to blur the boundaries between human and nature, crafting new metaphors for the permeability and porousness of life-forms.
—Catherine Taft, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Each of these creatures of light multiplied into subqueries and side queries, a glowing menagerie of exotic life-forms crisscrossing the void, their wakes and ripples gradually illuminating the entirety of the submarine cave.
—Big Think, 14 Oct. 2025
If they are broken by clumsy feet, these millennia-old life-forms can die.
—Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025
By applying engineering principles to biology, and with the help of some nifty robotic equipment, Ginkgo has created a factory for churning out exotic life-forms, the likes of which have never before been seen on this planet.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Nov. 2016
Cite this Entry
“Life-form.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life-form. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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