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Definition of qui vive


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qui vive  audio  (k vv) KEY  

NOUN:
A sentinel's challenge.

IDIOM:
on the qui vive
On the alert; vigilant: "a loathsome Dublin politico who is on the qui vive for . . . terrorists" (Julian Moynahan).

ETYMOLOGY:
French, (long) live who? (a sentry's challenge to determine a person's political sympathies) : qui, who + vive, third person sing. present subjunctive of vivre, to live


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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