sustain

sustain

verb

Definition of SUSTAIN

1

to supply with nourishment <a granola bar should sustain you long enough to last until lunch>

Synonyms nourish, nurture

Related Words sate, satiate, satisfy; nurse, suckle; cloy, fill, surfeit; fortify, replenish, strengthen; feed; board, cater, provision, victual

2

to come to a knowledge of (something) by living through it <sustained serious injuries in the car crash>

Synonyms endure, feel, have, know, pass, see, suffer, sustain, taste, undergo, witness

Related Words encounter, meet; accept, receive; assimilate, digest

3

to put up with (something painful or difficult) <I won't sustain such insolence!>

Synonyms abide, absorb, accept, bide [chiefly dialect], brook, countenance, endure, go, hack, handle, meet, pocket, stand, stick out, stomach, support, sustain, sweat out, take, tolerate, wear [British]

Related Words allow, permit, suffer, swallow; reconcile (to); acquiesce, agree (with or to), assent (to), capitulate, consent (to), respect, submit (to), yield (to)

Near Antonyms decline, dismiss, refuse, reject, repudiate, spurn, turn down; combat, contest, fight, oppose, resist; avoid, bypass, circumvent, dodge, elude, escape, evade, miss; abstain (from), forbear, refrain (from)

4

to hold up or serve as a foundation for <that old chair won't sustain your weight>

Synonyms bear, bolster, brace, buttress, carry, prop (up), shore (up), stay, sustain, undergird, underpin, uphold

Related Words steady, truss, underlie