sustain

[suh-steyn]

verb (used with object)

1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.

   Synonyms: carry

2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).

3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.

   Synonyms: bear

4. to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.

5. to keep up or keep going, as an action or process.

   to sustain a conversation.

   Synonyms: maintain

6. to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.

7. to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.

8. to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.

9. to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it.

   The judge sustained the lawyer's objection.

10. to confirm or corroborate, as a statement.

    Further investigation sustained my suspicions.

sustain

/ səˈsteɪn, səˈsteɪnɪdlɪ /

verb

1. to hold up under; withstand

   to sustain great provocation

2. to undergo (an injury, loss, etc); suffer

   to sustain a broken arm

3. to maintain or prolong

   to sustain a discussion

4. to support physically from below

5. to provide for or give support to, esp by supplying necessities

   to sustain one's family

   to sustain a charity

6. to keep up the vitality or courage of

7. to uphold or affirm the justice or validity of

   to sustain a decision

8. to establish the truth of; confirm

noun

1. music the prolongation of a note, by playing technique or electronics

Other Word Forms

• sustainable adjective
• sustainingly adverb
• sustainment noun
• nonsustaining adjective
• unsustaining adjective
• sustained adjective
• sustainedly adverb
• sustaining adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sustain¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English suste(i)nen, from Anglo-French sustenir, Old French, from Latin sustinēre “to uphold,” equivalent to sus- sus- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre “to hold”

Word History and Origins

Origin of sustain¹

C13: via Old French from Latin sustinēre to hold up, from _sub- + tenēre to hold

Example Sentences

During the early Archean, abundant nickel and urea may have restricted cyanobacterial blooms, preventing sustained oxygen release.

Read more on Science Daily

He argued inflation is “spreading across categories” and robust consumption and investment suggest policy isn’t restrictive enough to guarantee a sustained return to target.

Read more on Barron's

The Lakota leader Sitting Bull defeated George Custer’s cavalry, but a sustained conflict with American forces proved ruinous.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

ABC News reported that the new information “suggested the administration was preparing for sustained operations against drug cartels and that it believed the military strikes could withstand potential legal challenges.”

Read more on Salon

A sustained decline in overseas investment could remove or narrow a path that allowed previously poor countries such as China to raise their standards of living.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• assist 
• bolster 
• buoy 
• continue 
• defend 
• help 
• nurse 
• preserve 
• save 

When To Use

What are other ways to say sustain?

To sustain a claim or an idea is to uphold it as valid, just or correct. How does sustain differ from the synonyms maintain, support, or uphold? Find out on Thesaurus.com.