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Definition of "survive" []

  • To remain alive or in existence. (verb-intransitive)
  • To carry on despite hardships or trauma; persevere: families that were surviving in tents after the flood. (verb-intransitive)
  • To remain functional or usable: I dropped the radio, but it survived. (verb-intransitive)
  • To live longer than; outlive: She survived her husband by five years. (verb-transitive)
  • To live, persist, or remain usable through: plants that can survive frosts; a clock that survived a fall. (verb-transitive)

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 "survive" in a sentence
  • "I agree that at least it's likely that "Christianist" (should the term survive past the end of the week) is/will be (a) cast mostly in a pejorative context and (b) will be used more broadly than its current definition - that is, it will be wielded by certain individuals against all Christians with socially conservative views."
  • "Win two out of three, and the Nittany Lions are in the first Big Ten championship game -- playing for the, ahem, Stagg-Paterno trophy, should the name survive this tumult."
  • "Still, the only way for newspapers to survive is to explore, discuss and debate a wide range of ideas."