Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A sentry's challenge.
- idiom (on the qui vive) On the alert; vigilant.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Who goes there? — the challenge of French sentries addressed to those who approach their posts.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- The challenge of a French sentinel, or patrol; -- used like the English challenge: “Who comes there?”
- to be on guard; to be watchful and alert, like a sentinel.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun a state of heightened
vigilance , especially prior tobattle
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun condition of heightened watchfulness or preparation for action
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[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.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
French who lives? - a sentry's challenge
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word qui vive.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
jmjarmstrong commented on the word qui vive
JM, though not in way a sentinel, still frequently finds himself demanding "qui vive?"
February 1, 2009