1. [n]  sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people; "his lovemaking disgusted her"; "he hadn't had any love in months"; "he has a very complicated love life"
2. [n]  any object of warm affection or devotion; "the theater was her first love" or"he has a passion for cock fighting"
3. [n]  a deep feeling of sexual desire and attraction; "their love left them indifferent to their surroundings"; "she was his first love"
4. [n]  a strong positive emotion of regard and affection; "his love for his work"; "children need a lot of love"
5. [n]  a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
6. [n]  a score of zero in tennis or squash; "it was 40 love"
7. [v]  have sexual intercourse with; "This student sleeps with everyone in her dorm"; "Adam knew Eve" (know is archaic); "Were you ever intimate with this man?"
8. [v]  have a great affection or liking for; "I love French food"; "She loves her boss and works hard for him"
9. [v]  be enamored or in love with; "She loves her husband deeply"
10. [v]  get pleasure from; "I love cooking"

1. \Love\, n. [OE. love, luve, AS. lufe, lufu; akin to E.
   lief, believe, L. lubet, libet,it pleases, Skr. lubh to be
   lustful. See {Lief}.]
   1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which
      delights or commands admiration; pre["e]minent kindness or
      devotion to another; affection; tenderness; as, the love
      of brothers and sisters.
   
            Of all the dearest bonds we prove Thou countest
            sons' and mothers' love Most sacred, most Thine own.
                                                  --Keble.
   
   2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate
      affection for, one of the opposite sex.
   
            He on his side Leaning half-raised, with looks of
            cordial love Hung over her enamored.  --Milton.
   
   3. Courtship; -- chiefly in the phrase to make love, i. e.,
      to court, to woo, to solicit union in marriage.
   
            Demetrius . . . Made love to Nedar's daughter,
            Helena, And won her soul.             --Shak.
   
   4. Affection; kind feeling; friendship; strong liking or
      desire; fondness; good will; -- opposed to {hate}; often
      with of and an object.
   
            Love, and health to all.              --Shak.
   
            Smit with the love of sacred song.    --Milton.
   
            The love of science faintly warmed his breast.
                                                  --Fenton.
   
   5. Due gratitude and reverence to God.
   
            Keep yourselves in the love of God.   --Jude 21.
   
   6. The object of affection; -- often employed in endearing
      address. ``Trust me, love.'' --Dryden.
   
            Open the temple gates unto my love.   --Spenser.
   
   7. Cupid, the god of love; sometimes, Venus.
   
            Such was his form as painters, when they show Their
            utmost art, on naked Lores bestow.    --Dryden.
   
            Therefore do nimble-pinioned doves draw Love.
                                                  --Shak.
   
   8. A thin silk stuff. [Obs.] --Boyle.
   
   9. (Bot.) A climbing species of Clematis ({C. Vitalba}).
   
   10. Nothing; no points scored on one side; -- used in
       counting score at tennis, etc.
   
             He won the match by three sets to love. --The
                                                  Field.
   
   Note: Love is often used in the formation of compounds, in
         most of which the meaning is very obvious; as,
         love-cracked, love-darting, love-killing, love-linked,
         love-taught, etc.
   
   {A labor of love}, a labor undertaken on account of regard
      for some person, or through pleasure in the work itself,
      without expectation of reward.
   
   {Free love}, the doctrine or practice of consorting with one
      of the opposite sex, at pleasure, without marriage. See
      {Free love}.
   
   {Free lover}, one who avows or practices free love.
   
   {In love}, in the act of loving; -- said esp. of the love of
      the sexes; as, to be in love; to fall in love.
   
   {Love apple} (Bot.), the tomato.
   
   {Love bird} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of small,
      short-tailed parrots, or parrakeets, of the genus
      {Agapornis}, and allied genera. They are mostly from
      Africa. Some species are often kept as cage birds, and are
      celebrated for the affection which they show for their
      mates.
   
   {Love broker}, a person who for pay acts as agent between
      lovers, or as a go-between in a sexual intrigue. --Shak.
   
   {Love charm}, a charm for exciting love. --Ld. Lytton.
   
   {Love child}. an illegitimate child. --Jane Austen.
   
   {Love day}, a day formerly appointed for an amicable
      adjustment of differences. [Obs.] --Piers Plowman.
      --Chaucer.
   
   {Love drink}, a love potion; a philter. --Chaucer.
   
   {Love favor}, something given to be worn in token of love.
   
   {Love feast}, a religious festival, held quarterly by some
      religious denominations, as the Moravians and Methodists,
      in imitation of the agap[ae] of the early Christians.
   
   {Love feat}, the gallant act of a lover. --Shak.
   
   {Love game}, a game, as in tennis, in which the vanquished
      person or party does not score a point.
   
   {Love grass}. [G. liebesgras.] (Bot.) Any grass of the genus
      {Eragrostis}.
   
   {Love-in-a-mist}. (Bot.)
       (a) An herb of the Buttercup family ({Nigella Damascena})
           having the flowers hidden in a maze of finely cut
           bracts.
       (b) The West Indian {Passiflora f[oe]tida}, which has
           similar bracts.
   
   {Love-in-idleness} (Bot.), a kind of violet; the small pansy.
   
            A little western flower, Before milk-white, now
            purple with love's wound; And maidens call it
            love-in-idleness.                     --Shak.
   
   {Love juice}, juice of a plant supposed to produce love.
      --Shak.
   
   {Love knot}, a knot or bow, as of ribbon; -- so called from
      being used as a token of love, or as a pledge of mutual
      affection. --Milman.
   
   {Love lass}, a sweetheart.
   
   {Love letter}, a letter of courtship. --Shak.
   
   {Love-lies-bleeding} (Bot.), a species of amaranth
      ({Amarantus melancholicus}).
   
   {Love match}, a marriage brought about by love alone.
   
   {Love potion}, a compounded draught intended to excite love,
      or venereal desire.
   
   {Love rites}, sexual intercourse. --Pope
   
   {Love scene}, an exhibition of love, as between lovers on the
      stage.
   
   {Love suit}, courtship. --Shak.
   
   {Of all loves}, for the sake of all love; by all means.
      [Obs.] ``Mrs. Arden desired him of all loves to come back
      again.'' --Holinshed.
   
   {The god of love}, or {Love god}, Cupid.
   
   {To make love to}, to express affection for; to woo. ``If you
      will marry, make your loves to me.'' --Shak.
   
   {To play for love}, to play a game, as at cards, without
      stakes. ``A game at piquet for love.'' --Lamb.
   
   Syn: Affection; friendship; kindness; tenderness; fondness;
        delight.
   
   

2. \Love\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Loved}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Loving}.] [AS. lufian. ?. See {Love}, n.]
   1. To have a feeling of love for; to regard with affection or
      good will; as, to love one's children and friends; to love
      one's country; to love one's God.
   
            Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
            and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
                                                  --Matt. xxii.
                                                  37.
   
            Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self. --Matt.
                                                  xxii. 39.
   
   2. To regard with passionate and devoted affection, as that
      of one sex for the other.
   
   3. To take delight or pleasure in; to have a strong liking or
      desire for, or interest in; to be pleased with; to like;
      as, to love books; to love adventures.
   
            Wit, eloquence, and poetry. Arts which I loved.
                                                  --Cowley.
   
   

3. \Love\, v. i.
   To have the feeling of love; to be in love.
   
   

What many users feel for computers.

"I don't really love computers, I just say that to get them into bed with me". (Terry Pratchet)

This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by our Lord in his interview with "Simon, the son of Jonas," after his resurrection (John 21:16, 17). When our Lord says, "Lovest thou me?" he uses the Greek word _agapas_; and when Simon answers, he uses the Greek word _philo_, i.e., "I love." This is the usage in the first and second questions put by our Lord; but in the third our Lord uses Simon's word. The distinction between these two Greek words is thus fitly described by Trench:, "_Agapan_ has more of judgment and deliberate choice; _philein_ has more of attachment and peculiar personal affection. Thus the 'Lovest thou' (Gr. agapas) on the lips of the Lord seems to Peter at this moment too cold a word, as though his Lord were keeping him at a distance, or at least not inviting him to draw near, as in the passionate yearning of his heart he desired now to do. Therefore he puts by the word and substitutes his own stronger 'I love' (Gr. philo) in its room. A second time he does the same. And now he has conquered; for when the Lord demands a third time whether he loves him, he does it in the word which alone will satisfy Peter ('Lovest thou,' Gr. phileis), which alone claims from him that personal attachment and affection with which indeed he knows that his heart is full."

In 1 Cor. 13 the apostle sets forth the excellency of love, as the word "charity" there is rendered in the Revised Version.