existing

American  

[ig-zis-ting] / ɪgˈzɪs tɪŋ /

adjective

1. already or previously in place, before being replaced, altered, or added to.

   Fundraising costs money, and recruiting new donors is more expensive than asking existing supporters to give a little more.

2. having actual being or life.

   The great ornithologist Alexander Wetmore, who died in 1978, allegedly declared that all existing species of birds had already been discovered.

3. occurring in a specified place or under specified conditions.

   Members of committees dealing with the behavior of intelligence services met to discuss the existing challenges and exchange best practices.

4. achieving only the basic needs of existence, as food and shelter.

   Forrest Bess was a marginally existing bait fisherman and artist who lived in a ramshackle cabin on the Gulf of Mexico.

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Other Word Forms

• nonexisting adjective
• unexisting adjective

Etymology

Origin of existing

exist ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

More appointments to the SPDC, such as medical and finance directors, are expected to be made from the ranks of existing health boards.

From BBC

However, he posited that the uptick in spending could be indicative of Amazon’s “inherent advantage in being able to retrofit existing AWS infrastructure,” meaning that the company could bring capacity online faster than its peers.

From MarketWatch

There are already separate texts in the existing deal for the countries on various issues, but striking bilateral deals can take a while and be messy.

From Barron's

“The key lesson is that stock market corrections become dangerous when they coincide with existing vulnerabilities, trigger financial instability and—crucially—interact with high leverage,” McKeown writes.

From Barron's

OTTAWA—Senior Bank of Canada policymakers identified the pending U.S.-led review of the existing North American trade treaty as an “important risk” to the economic outlook, according to minutes published Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant