survive
Americanverb (used without object)
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survives,
present (3rd person singular)
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survived,
past participle, past
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surviving
present participle
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to remain alive after the death of someone, the cessation of something, or the occurrence of some event; continue to live.
Few survived after the holocaust.
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to remain or continue in existence or use.
Ancient farming methods still survive in the Middle East.
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to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence.
She's surviving after the divorce.
verb (used with object)
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survives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
survived,
past participle, past
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surviving
present participle
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to continue to live or exist after the death, cessation, or occurrence of.
His wife survived him. He survived the operation.
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to endure or live through (an affliction, adversity, misery, etc.).
She's survived two divorces.
verb
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(tr) to live after the death of (another)
he survived his wife by 12 years
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to continue in existence or use after (a passage of time, an adversity, etc)
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informal to endure (something)
I don't know how I survive such an awful job
Synonym Usage
Survive, outlive refer to remaining alive longer than someone else or after some event. Survive usually means to succeed in keeping alive against odds, to live after some event that has threatened one: to survive an automobile accident. It is also used of living longer than another person (usually a relative), but, today, mainly in the passive, as in the fixed expression: The deceased is survived by his wife and children. Outlive stresses capacity for endurance, the time element, and sometimes a sense of competition: He outlived all his enemies. It is also used, however, of a person or object that has lived or lasted beyond a certain point: He has outlived his usefulness.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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survivabilitynoun
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self-survivingadjective
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survivableadjective
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unsurvivedadjective
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unsurvivingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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survivesimple
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survivessimple
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have survivedperfect
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has survivedperfect
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am survivingprogressive
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are survivingprogressive
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is survivingprogressive
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have been survivingperfect progressive
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has been survivingperfect progressive
Past
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survivedsimple
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had survivedperfect
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was survivingprogressive
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were survivingprogressive
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had been survivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of survive
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French survivre, from Latin supervīvere, equivalent to super- super- + vīvere “to live”; see sur- 1, vivid
Explanation
To survive something is to live through it or endure it. You can survive a car accident, or you can survive your little brother's four-hour violin recital. The verb survive is from the Latin word supervivere, “live beyond,” or “live longer than.” Originally to survive was used in the legal context as in “you survive your wife and therefore inherit her kingdom.” However, nowadays you might say that you were able to survive a holiday at your in-laws’, that your brother survived his first round of job interviews, or that you will never survive another all-day trip to the zoo in ninety degree heat.
Vocabulary lists containing survive
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Constitution"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Cruz and other researchers suspect that additional species once existed but left remains too delicate to survive long enough to be discovered.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
The artwork, of which five panels survive, was commissioned for the monastery of Santa Maria.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The stolen trumpet, Mikawa said, was one of the only items to survive when her family lost everything in the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
What skills should a CMO recruit for if they want team members who can survive in a subreddit?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
If any fish had managed to survive the eruption, they didn’t last long— bacteria began to grow rampantly in the hours after the lake was changed forever.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Yet for many, affection for Castro survives even as daily life becomes harder.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
It survives on aging observatories, international cooperation and a scientific community small enough to fit in a lecture hall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Above it, during the daycare years, is optional. Automate the number that survives the childcare years.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
Its peppery bite survives the wait, while the leaves soften into the sauces rather than collapsing into wet ribbons.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
The object itself no longer survives; we last hear of it in 1494, when it is listed among the effects of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the Medici ruler of Florence, on his death.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Panettiere is survived by her 11-year-old daughter and her parents, Lesley Vogel and Skip Panettiere.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Manchester Super Giants survived a late wobble with the bat to beat Trent Rockets by five wickets and win the franchise's first Hundred title at Lord's.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
The 125,000-square-foot upscale mall, featuring shops, restaurants and a movie theater, survived the blaze but required renovations that cost its owner and developer Rick Caruso more than $100 million, including major infrastructure work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
But Skenes had survived his first two Major League seasons without a single serious injury.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Admiral Faucet maintained that no one could have survived the journey across the sea in that tattered balloon, especially a person with no balloon-flying experience.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Plaintiffs in the suit include Carradine’s estate and his surviving children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Castro is the last surviving leader of Cuba's 1959 revolution and seen as still wielding power on the island, despite stepping down as president in 2018.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
With capital underinvestment in offshore for many years, the surviving companies have substantially reduced the cost to develop offshore fields, Robotti said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Many of these organisms are capable of surviving under extreme conditions, including very high temperatures and strongly acidic or alkaline environments.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
To her way of thinking, that actually made the day pretty interesting, and she was excited to tell Mom about the new trick she’d discovered for surviving school.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
