sustain
verb (used with object)
to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.
unsustaining
-
a word derived from
sustain.
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.
It was as well to acquire support on both sides, for the surface of the glazed chintz was slippery, inconveniently unsustaining to his equilibrium.
From The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance by Lucas Malet
The word “chaff” was, I suppose, originally applied to badinage to express its barren and unsustaining character; but to the English poor chaff is as sustaining as grain.
From Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
I shall then proceed to a fresh sole, and with the pea-soup I will finish a not unsustaining meal.'
From The Magician by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham
His lungs dilated and sank as if he were inhaling a warm moist unsustaining air and he smelt again the moist warm air which hung in the bath in Clongowes above the sluggish turf-coloured water.
From A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Good-night; I have risen so high Into slumber's rarity, Not a dream can beat its feather Through the unsustaining ether.
From Eyes of Youth A Book of Verse by Padraic Colum, Shane Leslie, A.O. by Various
