self-sustaining
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- self-sustained adjective
- self-sustainingly adverb
- self-sustainment noun
Etymology
Origin of self-sustaining
First recorded in 1835–45
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.
Fire Administration, potentially leading to a process known as thermal runaway, in which the battery ignites through a self-sustaining chemical reaction that is impossible to stop until it runs out on its own.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Workers currently have less bargaining power to demand higher wages, reducing the risk that an energy-driven inflation spike becomes self-sustaining.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 2026
The country must act fast - building a regulated, self-sustaining recycling system, raising household awareness, and integrating waste collection into solar business models.
From BBC • Dec. 25, 2025
No one should be under the illusion that a Mars settlement, even with a million people, could be fully independent of Earth and entirely self-sustaining.
From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025
It would have lacked the energy to sustain itself under normal conditions, however, the fission bomb provides it with all the energy it requires to grow and become self-sustaining.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
