live on phrasal verb (see also live)

1. if something lives on, it continues to exist:
Alice’s memory will live on.

2. live on something to have a particular amount of money to buy food and other necessary things:
I don’t know how they manage to live on £55 a week.
the number of families who live on benefits

3. live on something to eat a lot of a particular type of food:
They live on bread and potatoes.
He practically lives on fish and chips!

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲