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

Treasury securities, generating the cash flow needed to pay off the remaining monthly payments on the existing mortgage.

From The Wall Street Journal

Gmail account holders can now change their existing @gmail.com address while retaining their data and services.

From Los Angeles Times

“We believe increased market and mind share is happening for CrowdStrike among new and existing customers,” the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal

The new device generates laser frequency shifts through efficient phase modulation while using about 80 times less microwave power than many existing commercial modulators.

From Science Daily

Evolution has similarly purloined existing features and modified them, using great thrift, for example, to transmogrify a piece of jaw into an ear or to transform a leg into a wing.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant