Basic Details
Word: Lifespan
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The length of time that a person, animal or plant lives, or that a machine or object lasts.
Synonyms: lifetime, life
How to Spell Lifespan
Syllables: life - span
Tricky part: Like lifelong, it keeps the e of life. The second part is span, with an a.
Watch out for: lifspan, lifespen, lyfespan
Memory tip: A span is a stretch from one end to another, like the span of a bridge. A lifespan is the stretch of a life: life + span.
Usage Examples
Example 1: A good pair of school shoes has a lifespan of about one year.
Example 2: Better food and clean water have raised the lifespan of people in many villages.
Example 3: The lifespan of a butterfly is much shorter than that of a parrot.
Fun Fact
Scientists who studied Greenland sharks in 2016 estimated that the oldest one in their sample was roughly 400 years old, one of the longest lifespans known for any animal with a backbone.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. hybernate 2. migretion 3. lifespan 4. longevitty
a) to spend the winter in a deep sleep
b) the length of time a living thing lives
c) the movement of animals from one region to another
d) the fact of living for a very long time
Show answer
b) the length of time a living thing lives. Hibernate takes an i, longevity a single t and migration an a, so lifespan stands alone as correct.
Word Makeup
Three of these compound words are spelt correctly. Choose the misspelt one.
Choose the misspelt compound word.
a) grasshopper
b) heartbeat
c) lifspan
d) bookshelf
Show answer
c) lifspan. Lifspan has lost the e of life; the compound is life + span.
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to lifespan as used in the sentence:
The engineer said the new flyover was built to have a lifespan of at least eighty years.
a) budget
b) birthday
c) lifetime
d) width
Show answer
c) lifetime. Here lifespan means how long the flyover will last, which is its lifetime; budget and width have nothing to do with time.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. The lifespan of a battery tells you ____.
a) how long it keeps working
b) how far it can be thrown
c) how bright its light can glow
d) how much it weighs in grams
Show answer
a) how long it keeps working
2. Better food and medicine have ____ the average human lifespan.
a) lengthened
b) borrowed
c) spelt
d) painted
Show answer
a) lengthened
