sustain

(sə-stān')
tr.v., -tained, -tain·ing, -tains.

1. To keep in existence; maintain.
2. To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for.
3. To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop.
4. To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage.
5. To bear up under; withstand: can't sustain the blistering heat.
6. To experience or suffer: sustained a fatal injury.
7. To affirm the validity of: The judge has sustained the prosecutor's objection.
8. To prove or corroborate; confirm.
9. 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.]

sustainability sus·tain'a·bil'i·ty n.
sustainable sus·tain'a·ble adj.
sustainer sus·tain'er n.
sustainment sus·tain'ment n.

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Fowler's view in 1926 was that 'sustain as a synonym for suffer or receive or get belongs to the class of formal words, and is better avoided', and its use in the contexts of injuries, losses, hardship, etc., is still widely disliked. Fowler was anxious to confine it to circumstances that involved prolonged endurance

(Scarce one [of the cities] was now capable of sustaining a siege—Macaulay, 1849)

, but there is a thin line dividing this kind of brave resistance from more temporary kinds. In its other meanings, 'to keep in being', 'to maintain in a certain state', 'to give support to', and others, sustain is unexceptionable.

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verb

1. To keep in a condition of good repair, efficiency, or use: keep up, maintain, preserve. See keep/release.
2. To hold up: bear, carry, support. See over/under.
3. To keep from yielding or failing during stress or difficulty: bolster, buoy (up), prop, support, uphold. See help/harm/harmless.
4. To put up with: abide, accept, bear, brook², endure, go, stand (for), stomach, suffer, support, swallow, take, tolerate, withstand. Informal lump². Idioms: take it, take it lying down. See accept/reject.

v

Definition: endure, experience
Antonyms: abstain, discontinue, stop

v

Definition: keep up, maintain
Antonyms: discontinue, halt, stop

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

To carry on; to maintain. To affirm, uphold or approve, as when an appellate court sustains the decision of a lower court. To grant, as when a judge sustains an objection to testimony or evidence, he or she agrees with the objection and gives it effect.

(DOD) The provision of personnel, logistic, and other support required to maintain and prolong operations or combat until successful accomplishment or revision of the mission or of the national objective.

For a list of words related to sustainer, see:

• Space Exploration and Rocketry - sustainer: small rocket engine that maintains spacecraft’s speed after booster is jettisoned

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See words rhyming with "sustainer."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Sustain.

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Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - bære, støtte, holde oppe, hjælpe, ernære, holde liv i, opretholde, godkende, anerkende, tåle, lide, udholde
n. - næring

Nederlands (Dutch)
volhouden, steunen, dragen, ondergaan

Français (French)
v. tr. - maintenir, poursuivre, (Mus) soutenir, tenir (note), donner des forces à, soutenir (moralement), appuyer (un régime, un marché), recevoir (un coup), éprouver (une perte), subir, essuyer (une défaite), (Jur) faire droit à, admettre (une objection)
n. - maintien, soutien

Deutsch (German)
v. - standhalten, aushalten, tragen, erhalten, erleiden, aufrechterhalten
n. - Unterstützung

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - βαστώ, κρατώ, αντέχω, υφίσταμαι, στηρίζω, διατρέφω, διατηρώ, παρατείνω τη διάρκεια, (νομ.) αποδέχομαι, τεκμηριώνω

Italiano (Italian)
sostenere, insistere

Português (Portuguese)
v. - sustentar

Русский (Russian)
подпирать, поддерживать, оказывать поддержку, придавать силы, не дать прекратиться, оборваться, угаснуть, испытывать, выдерживать, защищать, подтверждать, играть (роль), тянуть (звук), снабжать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - sostener, sustentar, mantener, apoyar, perseverar, obstinarse, continuar
n. - sustento

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - tåla, hålla för, understödja, bekräfta, godkänna, upprätthålla, hålla igång, uthärda, utstå

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
支撑, 维持, 供养, 承受, 承担, 支援, 支撑的人物

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 支撐, 維持, 供養, 承受, 承擔, 支援
n. - 支撐的人物

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 떠받치다, 받다, 견디다
n. - 떠받침, 경험함

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 下から支える, 耐える, うける, こうむる, 経験する, 支持する, 励ます, 維持する, 継続する, 確認する, 立証する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يساند , يمد , يعزز‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮נשא, תמך, סבל, האריך, חיזק, קיים, החזיק, אישר, אימת, קיבל (אמירה במשפט)‬
n. - ‮תוצאת הארכת הצליל (מוסיקה)‬

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