sustain

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sus·tain

(sə-stān′)

tr.v. sus·tained, sus·tain·ing, sus·tains

a. To keep in existence; maintain, continue, or prolong: sustain an effort.

b. To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

a. To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for: the income needed to sustain a family.

b. To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage: We were sustained by her unflagging optimism.

3. To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop: The beams sustain the weight of the roof.

a. To bear up under; withstand: can't sustain the blistering heat.

b. To experience or suffer: sustained minor injuries.

5. To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor's objection.

A capacity of a musical instrument to continue the resounding of a note or tone.

[Middle English sustenen, from Old French sustenir, from Latin sustinēre : sub-, from below; see sub- + tenēre, to hold; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

sus·tain′er n.

sus·tain′ment n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sustain

(səˈsteɪn)

vb (tr)

1. to hold up under; withstand: to sustain great provocation.

2. to undergo (an injury, loss, etc); suffer: to sustain a broken arm.

3. to maintain or prolong: to sustain a discussion.

4. to support physically from below

5. to provide for or give support to, esp by supplying necessities: to sustain one's family; to sustain a charity.

6. to keep up the vitality or courage of

7. to uphold or affirm the justice or validity of: to sustain a decision.

8. to establish the truth of; confirm

(Music, other) music the prolongation of a note, by playing technique or electronics

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

susˈtained adj

sustainedly adv

susˈtaining adj

susˈtainingly adv

susˈtainment n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sus•tain

(səˈsteɪn)

v.t.

1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of.

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

3. to undergo or suffer (injury, loss, etc.).

4. to endure without giving way or yielding.

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

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

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

8. to provide for by furnishing means or funds.

9. to support by aid or approval.

10. to uphold as valid, just, or correct: The judge sustained the lawyer's objection.

11. to confirm or corroborate.

[1250–1300; < Anglo-French sustenir, Old French « Latin sustinēre to uphold =sus- sus- + -tinēre, comb. form of tenēre to hold]

sus•tain′a•ble, adj.

sus•tain′er, n.

sus•tain′ment, n.

sustain

Past participle: sustained
Gerund: sustaining

Imperative
sustain
sustain

Present
I sustain
you sustain
he/she/it sustains
we sustain
you sustain
they sustain

Preterite
I sustained
you sustained
he/she/it sustained
we sustained
you sustained
they sustained

Present Continuous
I am sustaining
you are sustaining
he/she/it is sustaining
we are sustaining
you are sustaining
they are sustaining

Present Perfect
I have sustained
you have sustained
he/she/it has sustained
we have sustained
you have sustained
they have sustained

Past Continuous
I was sustaining
you were sustaining
he/she/it was sustaining
we were sustaining
you were sustaining
they were sustaining

Past Perfect
I had sustained
you had sustained
he/she/it had sustained
we had sustained
you had sustained
they had sustained

Future
I will sustain
you will sustain
he/she/it will sustain
we will sustain
you will sustain
they will sustain

Future Perfect
I will have sustained
you will have sustained
he/she/it will have sustained
we will have sustained
you will have sustained
they will have sustained

Future Continuous
I will be sustaining
you will be sustaining
he/she/it will be sustaining
we will be sustaining
you will be sustaining
they will be sustaining

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been sustaining
you have been sustaining
he/she/it has been sustaining
we have been sustaining
you have been sustaining
they have been sustaining

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been sustaining
you will have been sustaining
he/she/it will have been sustaining
we will have been sustaining
you will have been sustaining
they will have been sustaining

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been sustaining
you had been sustaining
he/she/it had been sustaining
we had been sustaining
you had been sustaining
they had been sustaining

Conditional
I would sustain
you would sustain
he/she/it would sustain
we would sustain
you would sustain
they would sustain

Past Conditional
I would have sustained
you would have sustained
he/she/it would have sustained
we would have sustained
you would have sustained
they would have sustained

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	sustain - lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work" keep up, prolong keep on, retain, continue, keep - allow to remain in a place or position or maintain a property or feature; "We cannot continue several servants any longer"; "She retains a lawyer"; "The family's fortune waned and they could not keep their household staff"; "Our grant has run out and we cannot keep you on"; "We kept the work going as long as we could"; "She retained her composure"; "this garment retains its shape even after many washings" preserve, uphold, carry on, continue, bear on - keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last; "preserve the peace in the family"; "continue the family tradition"; "Carry on the old traditions"
	2.	sustain - undergo (as of injuries and illnesses); "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle" suffer, have, get collapse, break down - collapse due to fatigue, an illness, or a sudden attack cramp - suffer from sudden painful contraction of a muscle have - suffer from; be ill with; "She has arthritis" crack up, crock up, collapse, break up, crack - suffer a nervous breakdown experience, have, receive, get - go through (mental or physical states or experiences); "get an idea"; "experience vertigo"; "get nauseous"; "receive injuries"; "have a feeling"
	3.	sustain - provide with nourishment; "We sustained ourselves on bread and water"; "This kind of food is not nourishing for young children" nourish, nurture cater, ply, provide, supply - give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance; "The hostess provided lunch for all the guests" carry - be able to feed; "This land will carry ten cows to the acre"
	4.	sustain - supply with necessities and support; "She alone sustained her family"; "The money will sustain our good cause"; "There's little to earn and many to keep" maintain, keep patronage - support by being a patron of reseed - maintain by seeding without human intervention; "Some plants reseed themselves indefinitely" have, have got, hold - have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense; "She has $1,000 in the bank"; "He has got two beautiful daughters"; "She holds a Master's degree from Harvard" carry - keep up with financial support; "The Federal Government carried the province for many years"
	5.	sustain - be the physical support of; carry the weight of; "The beam holds up the roof"; "He supported me with one hand while I balanced on the beam"; "What's holding that mirror?" hold up, support, hold scaffold - provide with a scaffold for support; "scaffold the building before painting it" block - support, secure, or raise with a block; "block a plate for printing"; "block the wheels of a car" carry - bear or be able to bear the weight, pressure,or responsibility of; "His efforts carried the entire project"; "How many credits is this student carrying?"; "We carry a very large mortgage" chock - support on chocks; "chock the boat" buoy, buoy up - keep afloat; "The life vest buoyed him up" pole - support on poles; "pole climbing plants like beans" bracket - support with brackets; "bracket bookshelves" underpin - support from beneath prop, prop up, shore up, shore - support by placing against something solid or rigid; "shore and buttress an old building" truss - support structurally; "truss the roofs"; "trussed bridges" brace - support by bracing
	6.	sustain - admit as valid; "The court sustained the motion" acknowledge, admit - declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of; "He admitted his errors"; "She acknowledged that she might have forgotten"
	7.	sustain - establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts; "his story confirmed my doubts"; "The evidence supports the defendant" affirm, confirm, corroborate, substantiate, support back up, back - establish as valid or genuine; "Can you back up your claims?" vouch - give supporting evidence; "He vouched his words by his deeds" verify - confirm the truth of; "Please verify that the doors are closed"; "verify a claim" shew, show, demonstrate, prove, establish - establish the validity of something, as by an example, explanation or experiment; "The experiment demonstrated the instability of the compound"; "The mathematician showed the validity of the conjecture" document - support or supply with references; "Can you document your claims?" validate - prove valid; show or confirm the validity of something

sustain

verb

1. maintain, continue, keep up, prolong, keep going, keep alive, protract He has sustained his fierce social conscience.

2. suffer, experience, undergo, feel, bear, endure, withstand, bear up under Every aircraft in there has sustained some damage.

3. help, aid, comfort, foster, assist, relieve, nurture I am sustained by letters of support.

4. keep alive, nourish, provide for not enough food to sustain a mouse

5. support, carry, bear, keep up, uphold, keep from falling The magnets have lost the capacity to sustain the weight.

6. uphold, confirm, endorse, approve, ratify, verify, validate The court sustained his objection.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

sustain

verb

1. To keep in a condition of good repair, efficiency, or use:

keep up, maintain, preserve.

2. To hold up:

bear, carry, support.

3. To keep from yielding or failing during stress or difficulty:

bolster, buoy (up), prop, support, uphold.

4. To put up with:

abide, accept, bear, brook, endure, go, stand (for), stomach, suffer, support, swallow, take, tolerate, withstand.

Informal: lump.

Idioms: take it, take it lying down.

Translations

يَحْمِل، يَتَحَمَّليُعَزِّز، يُساعِد، يُعْطي قُوَّه

posílitunést

bærehjælpestyrke

erhalten tragen

sostener mantener aguantar continuar dar fuerzas

accoter appuyer continuer endurer maintenir

erõt ad

halda/bera uppistyîja, halda gangandi

sorreggere sostenere subire appoggiare poggiare

atbalstītbalstītstiprinātturēt

güç vermeksabır gücü vermektaşımak

支撑给以支持或力量

sustain

[səsˈteɪn] VT

1. (= keep going) [+ interest, relationship, marriage] → mantener; [+ effort] → sostener, continuar; [+ life] → sustentar (Mus) [+ note] → sostener
the economy was not able to sustain a long war → la economía no podía soportar una guerra larga

2. (frm) (= suffer) [+ attack] → sufrir (y rechazar); [+ damage, loss] → sufrir; [+ injury] → recibir, sufrir; [+ defeat] → padecer
both ships sustained minor damage → ambos buques sufrieron daños de menor consideración

3. (= support) (lit) [+ weight] → sostener, apoyar (fig) [+ theory] → confirmar, corroborar
it is his belief in God that sustains him → su fe en Dios es lo que lo sostiene or mantiene

4. (Jur) (= uphold) [+ objection] → admitir; [+ claim] → corroborar, respaldar; [+ charge] → confirmar, corroborar
objection sustained → la objeción está admitida

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

sustain

[səˈsteɪn] vt

(= keep up) [+ interest] → nourrir; [+ effort, growth] → maintenir
The problem was how to create and sustain public interest → Le problème était de savoir comment éveiller et nourrir l'intérêt du public.

(= keep going) [+ person] (physically) → permettre de tenir
One slice of bread was not going to sustain me for long → Une tranche de pain ne me permettrait pas de tenir longtemps.

(= keep going) [+ person] (mentally)
I am sustained by letters of support → Je trouve des forces dans les lettres de soutien que je reçois.

(= suffer) [+ damage, defeat, loss] → subir; [+ wound, injury] → recevoir

sustain

(= support) load, weight → aushalten, tragen; life → erhalten; family → unterhalten; charity → unterstützen; (= nourish) body → bei Kräften halten; not enough to sustain life → nicht genug zum Leben; that isn’t enough food to sustain you → das wird Ihnen nicht reichen; his love has sustained her over the years → seine Liebe hat ihr über die Jahre hinweg viel Kraft gegeben

(= keep going, maintain) pretence, argument, theory, effort, veto, interest, support → aufrechterhalten; growth, position → beibehalten; (Mus) note → (aus)halten; (Theat) accent, characterization → durchhalten; (Jur) objection → stattgeben (+dat); objection sustained → Einspruch stattgegeben ? also sustained

(= receive) injury, damage, loss → erleiden; to sustain an attack → angegriffen werden

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

sustain

[səsˈteɪn] vt

a. (weight) → sostenere, sopportare; (body, life) → mantenere (Mus) (note) → tenere; (effort, role, pretence) → sostenere
"objection sustained" (Am) (Law) → "obiezione accolta"

b. (receive, damage, loss) → subire, soffrire

sustain

(səˈstein) verb

1. to bear (the weight of). The branches could hardly sustain the weight of the fruit.

2. to give help or strength to. The thought of seeing her again sustained him throughout his ordeal.

sustain

v. sostener, mantener; [a wound] sufrir una herida.

sustain

vt sostener

References in classic literature ?

In buying spectacles the needless outlay for the right lens soon reduced him to poverty, and the Man to Whom Time Was Money had to sustain life by fishing from the end of a wharf.

View in context

Miller, I had indeed to go campaigning before, but I was barbed from counter to tail, and a man went along to groom me; and now I cannot understand what ailed me to prefer the mill before the battle." "Forbear," said the Miller to him, "harping on what was of yore, for it is the common lot of mortals to sustain the ups and downs of fortune."

View in context

Pickwick, though able to sustain a very considerable amount of exertion and fatigue, was not proof against such a combination of attacks as he had undergone on the memorable night, recorded in the last chapter.

View in context

Such a poetry could not be permanently successful, because the subjects of which it treats -- if susceptible of poetic treatment at all -- were certainly not suited for epic treatment, where unity of action which will sustain interest, and to which each part should contribute, is absolutely necessary.

View in context

Not to speak of the clergyman's health, so inadequate to sustain the hardships of a forest life, his native gifts, his culture, and his entire development would secure him a home only in the midst of civilization and refinement; the higher the state the more delicately adapted to it the man.

View in context

Already the air tanks were at low ebb--there was barely enough of the precious gases to sustain us for another twelve hours.

View in context

Mournfully and low the man of God began his eulogy of the dead, and his doleful voice, mingled with the sobbing which it was its purpose to stimulate and sustain, rose and fell, seemed to come and go, like the sound of a sullen sea.

View in context

Even his energy failed to sustain him, tried as it now was by the crushing oppression of suspense.

View in context

Turning in his tracks, he was about to push the advantage, when his own mettled steed staggered and fell, under a burden that he could no longer sustain. Mahtoree answered his premature cry of victory, and rushed upon the entangled youth, with knife and tomahawk.

View in context

Then, as if his strength failed him, he seemed unable to sustain himself above the water and a wave passed over his head, which drowned his voice.

View in context

On the front seat of the coach there was one of those small baskets in which travelling ladies who are too delicate to appear at a public table generally carry a supply of gingerbread, biscuits and cheese, cold ham, and other light refreshments, merely to sustain nature to the journey's end.

View in context

"Then, brother," I replied, "you can return to your China, post haste or at whatever haste you are bound to go, as I am not fit for so long a travel and, besides being ill, I am very much without money, while Emperor for Emperor and Monarch for Monarch, I have at Naples the great Count of Lemos, who, without so many petty titles of colleges and rectorships, sustains me, protects me and does me more favour than I can wish for."