sustain

[ suh-steyn ]

/ səˈsteɪn /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sustain ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.

to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).

to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.

to keep (a person, the mind, the spirits, etc.) from giving way, as under trial or affliction.

to keep up or keep going, as an action or process: to sustain a conversation.

to supply with food, drink, and other necessities of life.

to provide for (an institution or the like) by furnishing means or funds.

to support (a cause or the like) by aid or approval.

to uphold as valid, just, or correct, as a claim or the person making it: The judge sustained the lawyer's objection.

to confirm or corroborate, as a statement: Further investigation sustained my suspicions.

Words nearby sustain

susquehanna, suss, sussed, sussex, sussex spaniel, sustain, sustainability, sustainable, sustainable agriculture, sustainably, sustained yield

Origin of sustain

1250–1300; Middle English suste(i)nen < Anglo-French sustenir, Old French < Latin sustinēre to uphold, equivalent to sus- sus- + -tinēre, combining form of tenēre to hold

SYNONYMS FOR sustain

1 carry.

3 bear.

5 maintain.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sustain ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM sustain

sus·tain·a·ble, adjectivesus·tain·ed·ly

[suh-stey-nid-lee, -steynd-] /səˈsteɪ nɪd li, -ˈsteɪnd-/, adverbsus·tain·ing·ly, adverbsus·tain·ment, noun

non·sus·tained, adjectivenon·sus·tain·ing, adjectivepre·sus·tained, adjectiveun·sus·tained, adjectiveun·sus·tain·ing, adjectivewell-sus·tained, adjective

synonym study for sustain

1. See support.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for sustain

A winning team may pack the stadium, but you need that packed stadium to get top recruits and sustain victories.
How The University of Wisconsin Badgers Are Bucking the Big Ten Ticket Flop|Brian Weidy|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How long can they sustain this momentum without falling victim to the same pitfalls as nearly every other long-running series?
Will Gardner Had to Die So That ‘The Good Wife’ Could Thrive|Jason Lynch|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Duhozanye has the land and the need, but lacks the $300,000 it will cost to build and sustain.
After the Genocide, Rwanda’s Widows Aging Alone|Nina Strochlic|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But fluctuations of mere feet during its flood season could sustain the rise of empires, or hasten their fall.
The Nile: Where Ancient and Modern Meet|William O’Connor|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Moreover, any truly effective coordination would be politically controversial, logistically problematic, and hard to sustain.
How Iran and America Can Beat ISIS Together|Ben Van Heuvelen|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But now the boiler proved to be too small to furnish steam steadily in sufficient quantity to sustain the higher speed.
A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine|Robert H. Thurston
For the most part, they were not unwilling to sustain the Turkish Government.
With the Turks in Palestine|Alexander Aaronsohn
Of all the property spared them by previous oppressors, nothing was left to sustain the miserable survivors.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)|Henry Martyn Baird
Of course we were rather substantial, and our wings did seem too thin and small to sustain us satisfactorily.
Life on the Stage|Clara Morris
How, then, could I hope to sustain a week of isolation in that lonely spot?
The Monk and The Hangman's Daughter|Adolphe Danziger De Castro and Ambrose Bierce

British Dictionary definitions for sustain

sustain

/ (səˈsteɪn) /

verb (tr)

to hold up under; withstandto sustain great provocation

to undergo (an injury, loss, etc); sufferto sustain a broken arm

to maintain or prolongto sustain a discussion

to support physically from below

to provide for or give support to, esp by supplying necessitiesto sustain one's family; to sustain a charity

to keep up the vitality or courage of

to uphold or affirm the justice or validity ofto sustain a decision

to establish the truth of; confirm

noun

music the prolongation of a note, by playing technique or electronics

Derived forms of sustain

sustained, adjectivesustainedly (səˈsteɪnɪdlɪ), adverbsustaining, adjectivesustainingly, adverb

sustainment, noun

Word Origin for sustain

C13: via Old French from Latin sustinēre to hold up, from sub- + tenēre to hold

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

sustain

verb (used with object)

Words related to sustain

Words nearby sustain

Origin of sustain

SYNONYMS FOR sustain

OTHER WORDS FROM sustain

synonym study for sustain

Examples from the Web for sustain

British Dictionary definitions for sustain

verb (tr)

noun

Derived forms of sustain

Word Origin for sustain