survive

[ser-vahyv]

verb (used without object)

survived, surviving 

1. 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.

   Synonyms: succeed, persist

2. to remain or continue in existence or use.

   Ancient farming methods still survive in the Middle East.

3. to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence.

   She's surviving after the divorce.

verb (used with object)

survived, surviving 

1. to continue to live or exist after the death, cessation, or occurrence of.

   His wife survived him. He survived the operation.

2. to endure or live through (an affliction, adversity, misery, etc.).

   She's survived two divorces.

survive

/ səˈvaɪv /

verb

1. (tr) to live after the death of (another)

   he survived his wife by 12 years

2. to continue in existence or use after (a passage of time, an adversity, etc)

3. informal,  to endure (something)

   I don't know how I survive such an awful job

Other Word Forms

• self-surviving adjective
• unsurvived adjective
• unsurviving adjective
• survivable adjective
• survivability noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of survive¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Middle French survivre, from Latin supervīvere, equivalent to super- super- + vīvere “to live”; sur- ¹, vivid

Word History and Origins

Origin of survive¹

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

That a practice has survived long enough to become ordinary is evidence that those who came before us found it useful.

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"I would say it would take between six and 12 months to get back and some won't survive it," the 58-year-old said.

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Those who didn’t survive the fire either couldn’t get out or didn’t know they had to.

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“The cunning they used to survive a hustler’s childhood,” Ms. Collinsworth observes, “had become a streak of ruthlessness in their adulthood.”

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Ergo Sum, the local school’s classics instructor, is terrorized by his memories of surviving World War II and convinced that he is transforming into a wolf.

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Related Words

• bear 
• endure 
• exist 
• get through 
• handle 
• keep 
• last 
• live 
• recover 
• remain 
• ride out 
• subsist 
• suffer 
• sustain 
• weather 
• withstand