lifo

IPA/ˈlaɪfəʊ/
KK[lˈifo]IPA/ˈlaɪfəʊ/

lifo — abbreviation

1. a way of handling items in a store, an account, or a list on a computer, in whic

1.abbreviationC1
Definition

a way of handling items in a store, an account, or a list on a computer, in which whatever has been added most recently is taken out or used first

Example

The warehouse uses LIFO, so the newest boxes leave before the older ones.

pattern: use LIFO for inventory order

Christopher's company switched to LIFO to lower its taxable profit last year.

collocation: switch to LIFO for accounting

Common collocations
  • use LIFO
  • switch to LIFO
  • on a LIFO basis
  • in LIFO order
  • LIFO method
  • LIFO accounting
Synonyms
  • last in, first out

    the full English phrase that LIFO stands for; used when the audience may not know the short form

Antonyms
  • FIFO

    first in, first out — the opposite method, where the oldest item is used or removed first

Grammar Patterns

use LIFO

LIFO + method/system/order

operate on a LIFO basis

Usage Note

Subject is usually a business, warehouse, system, or piece of software; rarely a person directly. Often paired with its opposite FIFO in the same passage to compare two ways of ordering items.

Common Mistakes

The shop is LIFO.
The shop uses LIFO.
LIFO is a method, so combine it with verbs like use, follow, or operate on, not be.
The bakery sells with LIFO bread.
The bakery sells bread on a LIFO basis.
Use the noun phrase on a LIFO basis or in LIFO order, not LIFO as a bare modifier of the goods themselves.

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • on a LIFO basis
  • in LIFO order
  • use the LIFO method

Prepositions

Etymology

Englishacronym

LIFO is built from the first letters of the English phrase last in, first out. It became common in the middle of the twentieth century, first in business writing about inventory and accounting, then in computing, where programmers borrowed it to describe how a stack stores and returns data.