survive
Americanverb (used without object)
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survives,
present (3rd person singular)
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survived,
past participle, past
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surviving
present participle
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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.
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to remain or continue in existence or use.
Ancient farming methods still survive in the Middle East.
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to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence.
She's surviving after the divorce.
verb (used with object)
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survives,
present (3rd person singular)
-
survived,
past participle, past
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surviving
present participle
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to continue to live or exist after the death, cessation, or occurrence of.
His wife survived him. He survived the operation.
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to endure or live through (an affliction, adversity, misery, etc.).
She's survived two divorces.
verb
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(tr) to live after the death of (another)
he survived his wife by 12 years
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to continue in existence or use after (a passage of time, an adversity, etc)
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informal to endure (something)
I don't know how I survive such an awful job
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Derived Forms
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survivabilitynoun
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self-survivingadjective
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survivableadjective
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unsurvivedadjective
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unsurvivingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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survivesimple
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survivessimple
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have survivedperfect
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has survivedperfect
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am survivingprogressive
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are survivingprogressive
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is survivingprogressive
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have been survivingperfect progressive
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has been survivingperfect progressive
Past
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survivedsimple
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had survivedperfect
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was survivingprogressive
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were survivingprogressive
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had been survivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
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
Explanation
To survive something is to live through it or endure it. You can survive a car accident, or you can survive your little brother's four-hour violin recital. The verb survive is from the Latin word supervivere, “live beyond,” or “live longer than.” Originally to survive was used in the legal context as in “you survive your wife and therefore inherit her kingdom.” However, nowadays you might say that you were able to survive a holiday at your in-laws’, that your brother survived his first round of job interviews, or that you will never survive another all-day trip to the zoo in ninety degree heat.
Vocabulary lists containing survive
Beowulf vocabulary
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"The Constitution"
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Unit 1, Week 1
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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.
See Examples For:
Two employees from Anthropic's safety team have resigned in the last two weeks, external saying humanity may not survive the race among AI companies to develop machines that are smarter than humans.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
We pelted experts with questions big and small about how to survive and even thrive—with one caveat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
This phenomenon, known as antigen escape, can allow cancer cells to survive even when a targeted treatment initially works.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
She didn’t bring goggles or even a big coat to survive the cold, dusty nights.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
But they were built to survive regular wildfires.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
She survives him, as do their two daughters and two grandsons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Every hard-earned dollar put down in the name of “Coyote vs. Acme” also goes toward ensuring that “Looney Tunes,” as a property, survives.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
What matters most is what happens after you hand the property back — in the event that you do — including whether your mother survives the transfer for more than one year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
County’s proposed Evergreen Fund would offer grants instead — if it survives the budget.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
“But it definitely survives longer than most plants. All through the winter and everything. You barely even have to water it. It’s like toughest of all the plants. The survivor.”
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
Ten of them survived and were taken to the local hospital, the statement said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
"That was quite a shock actually, having survived it all that close and then 'bang' this happens."
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
One hypothesis has proposed that Neornithes survived because many lived around aquatic environments, where conditions may have offered some protection from the devastation following the asteroid impact.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Families whose homes survived the Palisades and Eaton Fires but remain damaged or contaminated should not be forced to choose between returning to an unsafe home and financial devastation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
Lyttyrboks’s criminal felines had survived their exile—and their descendants were right here!
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
The 9/11 attacks transformed how critical institutions think about surviving the unimaginable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Without one, a business built over decades could end up in the hands of a surviving spouse or children who have no ability to run it.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
The mansion, near Leighton Buzzard, is the only surviving major work in Britain by Crystal Palace designer Joseph Paxton.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
“Here’s a coyote with her face swollen to the point where her eyes are shut and her tongue is hanging out, surviving in the Valley in 100-degree heat,” Rulon said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
He was lonely, nauseated, and dehydrated, surviving on a diet of dry raisins and bread.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
