lifeblood

Love triangles are the lifeblood of teen dramas.

The lifeblood of social media platforms is engagement, and rage is a reliable driver.

"Freedom of navigation is the lifeblood of all of our economies."

Innovation—the lifeblood of battlefield advantage—shrank to a handful of very expensive weapons.

In practice, this meant backing a quixotic bid for president by a now-forgotten opposition lawmaker, while at the same imposing a harsh set of economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, the lifeblood of the economy.