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

Facebook was using a mix of copper cables and existing fiber optics, but found both ill-suited to the task.

From The Wall Street Journal

He has told employees he’ll make sure they get access to the new plug-in—but they can keep using the existing software for now.

From The Wall Street Journal

At 18, she transferred to adult services but at that point, she said: "I was literally just existing. I wasn't living."

From BBC

Multiple clinical trials are now testing this approach at MSK and other institutions, both on its own and in combination with existing immunotherapies.

From Science Daily

Other data due include the fourth-quarter employment cost index on Tuesday, followed by weekly jobless claims and January existing home sales data on Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• actual
• current
• extant