a crease on the palm; its length is said by palmists to indicate how long you will live
"The old fortune teller traced her finger along the deep lifeline running across my palm, claiming it showed exactly eighty years of life ahead."
support that enables people to survive or to continue doing something (often by providing an essential connection)
"the airlift provided a lifeline for Berlin"
"she offered me a lifeline in my time of grief"
line that raises or lowers a deep-sea diver
"The crew quickly deployed the lifeline to lower the diver into the turbulent waters below."
line thrown from a vessel that people can cling to in order to save themselves from drowning
"The captain quickly threw his lifeboat's rope into the churning water as the drifting raft began to sink."
A line to which a drowning or falling victim may cling.
"As the swimmer began to sink, he desperately grabbed onto the floating rope that served as his only lifeline."