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Definition of "sufferance" [suf•fer•ance]

  • Patient endurance, especially of pain or distress. (noun)
  • Suffering; misery. (noun)
  • Sanction or permission implied or given by failure to prohibit; tacit consent; tolerance. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sufferance" in a sentence
  • "Sunday's term was tenancy at sufferance, which is defined as:"
  • "The leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, Is as an inventory to particularise their abundance; Our sufferance is a gain to them."
  • "If they would yield us but the superfluity, while it were wholesome, we might guess they relieved us humanely; but they think we are too dear: the leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, is as an inventory to particularise their abundance; our sufferance is a gain to them."