survival
[ser-vahy-vuh l]
- the act or fact of surviving, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances.
- a person or thing that survives or endures, especially an ancient custom, observance, belief, or the like.
- Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) the persistence of a cultural trait, practice, or the like long after it has lost its original meaning or usefulness.
- of, relating to, or for use in surviving, especially under adverse or unusual circumstances: survival techniques.
Origin of survival
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for survival
Contemporary Examples
With chemotherapy, her doctors give her at least an 80 percent chance of survival.
She is using this technique, which generations of African-Americans have used for survival, for fame and profit.
My survival no longer offers the time, but to see others expressing frustration they can barely put into words is helpful.
James brought little in the way of survival skills, but his companionship at night raised the team morale.
Her hold on her position at the hospital—and thus, her survival—is tenuous and she knows it.
The Walking Dead’s ‘Crossed’: The Stage Is Now Set for a Bloody, Deadly Midseason FinaleMelissa Leon
November 24, 2014
Historical Examples
All this, no doubt, was but a survival of his long religious training.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
Polyandry is a survival of the group-marriage of the mother-age.
The Truth About WomanC. Gasquoine Hartley
Guess it will be a case of the survival of the fittest of the engines when they meet!
The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol. 1 (of 2)Harry Furniss
How does the process of Selection make for the survival of the fittest?
The Meaning of EvolutionSamuel Christian Schmucker
But the price he was paying for survival was the usual price.
Captain BloodRafael Sabatini
survival
- a person or thing that survives, such as a custom
- the act or fact of surviving or condition of having survived
- (as modifier)survival kit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for survival
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper