survive

[ ser-vahyv ]

See synonyms for: survive survived surviving on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),sur·vived, sur·viv·ing.

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.
to remain or continue in existence or use: Ancient farming methods still survive in the Middle East.

to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence: She's surviving after the divorce.

verb (used with object),sur·vived, sur·viv·ing.

to continue to live or exist after the death, cessation, or occurrence of: His wife survived him. He survived the operation.
to endure or live through (an affliction, adversity, misery, etc.): She's survived two divorces.

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

synonym study For survive

1. 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 words for survive

1	persist, succeed

See synonyms for survive on Thesaurus.com

Other words from survive

self-sur·viv·ing, adjective
un·sur·vived, adjective
un·sur·viv·ing, adjective

Words Nearby survive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use survive in a sentence

It survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and countless cycles of glaciation.
The Environmental Headache in Your Shampoo - Issue 90: Something Green | Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay | September 16, 2020 | Nautilus
I think most of our interaction is an attempt to align the fictions that we build to be able to survive in the world.
Talking Is Throwing Fictional Worlds at One Another - Issue 89: The Dark Side | Kevin Berger | September 9, 2020 | Nautilus
We are all humans trying to survive a pandemic in our own ways.
How this year’s 40 Under 40 are surviving the pandemic | jonathanvanian2015 | September 7, 2020 | Fortune
All made money in 2019 after having survived several rocky years, according to data filed with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Only three of 26 Obamacare-era nonprofit health insurance co-ops will soon remain | lbelanger225 | September 6, 2020 | Fortune
At that time, Thrilling had announced that we would not take commission on any sales on our site for at least two months so that every dollar could go back to these stores who were all struggling to survive.
The CEO striving to make vintage, secondhand clothing as popular as fast fashion | Rachel King | September 6, 2020 | Fortune

We've managed to survive, and I want to be a part of that tradition.
My Week on Jewish Tinder | Emily Shire | January 5, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Of the ones that do survive, some will be too disillusioned to carry out an attack.
What the U.S. Can Learn from Europe About Dealing with Terrorists | Scott Beauchamp | December 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The longtime pals—and co-stars of The Interview—stripped down and tried to survive on the Discovery Channel reality series.
James Franco and Seth Rogen Get ‘Naked and Afraid’… And It’s Hilarious | Marlow Stern | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
To survive on such low pay, she and her 11-year-old son share a house with another woman and four children.
Care Providers Fight for $15 and a Union | Jasmin Almodovar, Shirley Thompson | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The participants want to win—or at least they want to survive, and when losing means dying, winning is the only way to survive.
The Hunger Games Economy | Jedediah Purdy | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
A word may survive and take a new meaning after its original meaning is no longer ascertainable.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
A strenuous worker, Mr. Johnstone, like most men who have no hobby, did not long survive his retirement from active business life.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph Tatlow
Footnote 48: Tobacco has been able to survive such attacks as these—nay, has raised up a host of defenders as well as opponents.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.
Feuchres died first, and, of the four artists assembled on that day at the Htel Pimodan, we only survive.
Charles Baudelaire, His Life | Thophile Gautier
Of the anthropoid apes of Europe, probably numerous in individuals, a few remains of one or two species alone survive.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for survive

survive

/ (səˈvaɪv) /

verb

(tr) to live after the death of (another): he survived his wife by 12 years
to continue in existence or use after (a passage of time, an adversity, etc)

informal to endure (something): I don't know how I survive such an awful job

Origin of survive

C15: from Old French sourvivre, from Latin supervīvere, from super- + vīvere to live

Derived forms of survive

survivable, adjective
survivability, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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