sustain definition | Dictionary.com

sus⋅tain

[suh-steyn]

–verb (used with object)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Origin:
1250–1300; ME suste(i)nen < AF sustenir, OF < L sustinēre to uphold, equiv. to sus- sus- + -tinēre, comb. form of tenēre to hold

Related forms:

sus⋅tain⋅a⋅ble, adjective

sus⋅tain⋅a⋅bil⋅i⋅ty, noun

sus⋅tain⋅ed⋅ly [suh-stey-nid-lee, -steynd-]

, adverb

sus⋅tain⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

sus⋅tain⋅ment, noun

Synonyms:
1. carry. See support. 3. bear. 5. maintain.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To sustain

sus·tain (sə-stān')

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

To keep in existence; maintain.
To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for.
To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop.
To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage.
To bear up under; withstand: can't sustain the blistering heat.
To experience or suffer: sustained a fatal injury.
To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor's objection.
To prove or corroborate; confirm.
To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

[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'a·bil'i·ty n., sus·tain'a·ble adj., sus·tain'er n., sus·tain'ment n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sustain

Sus*tain"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sustained; p. pr. & vb. n. Sustaining.] [OE. sustenen, susteinen, OF. sustenir, sostenir, F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- (see Sub-) + tenere to hold. See Tenable, and cf. Sustenance.]

1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight.

Every pillar the temple to sustain. --Chaucer.

2. Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support.

No comfortable expectations of another life to sustain him under the evils in this world. --Tillotson.

3. To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army.

4. To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate. --Shak.

His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain. --Dryden.

5. To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment.

6. To suffer; to bear; to undergo.

Shall Turnus, then, such endless toil sustain? --Dryden.

You shall sustain more new disgraces. --Shak.

7. To allow the prosecution of; to admit as valid; to sanction; to continue; not to dismiss or abate; as, the court sustained the action or suit.

8. To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition.

Syn: To support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo.

Sustain

Sus*tain"\, n. One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer. [Obs.]

I waked again, for my sustain was the Lord. --Milton.

Language Translation for : sustain

Spanish: sostener, aguantar,

German: tragen,

Japanese: 支える

More Translations »

sustain

c.1290, from O.Fr. sustenir "hold up, endure," from L. sustinere "hold up, support, endure," from sub "up from below" + tenere "to hold" (see tenet). Sustainable growth is recorded from 1965.

Main Entry: sus·tain
Pronunciation: s&-'stAn
Function: transitive verb
1 : to support as true, legal, or just
2 : to allow or uphold as valid <sustain an objection> —compare OVERRULE 1 —sus·tain·able adjective

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