life vest

noun

: life jacket

Examples of life vest in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some were wearing life vests that had tiny lights that produced the flicker first spotted by Miller. — Jaimie Ding, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026 The Coast Guard said the makeshift boat capsized late Sunday after a fight in which some people were severely injured by a machete, forcing the group to jump into the water despite not wearing life vests. — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026 The Coast Guard said the makeshift boat capsized late Sunday following a fight in which people were severely injured by a machete, leading the group to jump into the water without life vests. — ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026 There’s also a push from the greater public health community to get funding and resources to bring life vests to beaches, Ross said. — Bridget Fogarty, jsonline.com, 10 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for life vest

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of life vest was in 1848

Rhymes for life vest

See All Rhymes for life vest

Browse Nearby Words

life tree
life vest
lifeward
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Life vest.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20vest. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All