lifespan - the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he lived a long and happy life"period, period of time, time period - an amount of time; "a time period of 30 years"; "hastened the period of time of his recovery"; "Picasso's blue period" life expectancy - an expected time to live as calculated on the basis of statistical probabilities birth - the time when something begins (especially life); "they divorced after the birth of the child"; "his election signaled the birth of a new age" demise, dying, death - the time when something ends; "it was the death of all his plans"; "a dying of old hopes" time of life - a period of time during which a person is normally in a particular life state eld, age - a time in life (usually defined in years) at which some particular qualification or power arises; "she was now of school age"; "tall for his eld" |