A survivorof a disaster, accident, or illness is someone who continues to live afterwards in spite of coming close to death.
Officials said there were no survivors of the plane crash. [+ of]
2. countable noun
A survivorof a very unpleasant experience is a person who has had such an experience, and who is still affected by it.
This book is written with survivors of child sexual abuse in mind. [+ of]
3. countable noun [usually plural, usually poss NOUN]
A person's survivors are the members of their family who continue to live after they have died.
[US]
The compensation bill offers the miners or their survivors as much as $100,000 apiece.
[Also + of]
4. countable noun
If you describe someone as a survivor, you approve of the fact that they are able to carry on with their life even though they experience many difficulties.
[approval]
Above all Susie is a great survivor, with a bright, indomitable spirit.
5. countable noun [oft Nfrom n]
If you describe a person or thing as a survivorfrom an earlier period, you mean that they are still present or available, but other people or things from that period have died or disappeared.
He was the sole survivor from that winning side.
This is the only known survivor of 30 test cars built by the company.
survivor in British English
(səˈvaɪvə)
noun
1.
a person or thing that survives
2. property law
one of two or more specified persons having joint interests in property who lives longer than the other or others and thereby becomes entitled to the whole property
Derived forms
survivorship (surˈvivorˌship)
noun
survivor in American English
(sərˈvaɪvər)
noun
1.
a person or thing that survives; specif., a person who has survived an ordeal or great misfortune
2.
a person regarded as resilient or courageous enough to be able to overcome hardship, misfortune, etc.
Examples of 'survivor' in a sentence
survivor
One of the great survivors of the rock business has no plans to retire.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Survivors said that one man was overcome by fumes after a fuel tank spill.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
We talk of future prospects and past history and live survivors and safe havens.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The move is part of a package of measures to better support domestic abuse survivors.
The Sun (2016)
But it was just one or two survivors.
Max Arthur Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 19011910 in the words of the Men & Women Who WereThere (2006)
But the history of previous banking crises shows that the survivors not only live but live well.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The move has angered abuse survivors and campaigners.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Survivors are still haunted by the memories.
The Sun (2011)
Survivors of childhood abuse may lose their families.
Herman, Judith Lewis Trauma and Recovery (1992)
Survivors are still fighting for memorials at the sites.
The Sun (2012)
The train is the great survivor.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Just call me the great survivor.
The Sun (2012)
There can be only one survivor.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Tales of savage cruelty are being told by survivors of one of the biggest and most complex international hostage crises in decades.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
What does this mean for survivors who've experienced evil firsthand?
Christianity Today (2000)
That may help to explain why he is one of the country's great political survivors.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Recognising the pain that caused the survivors, his team decided to rescue dogs along with their owners.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The world has been ripped apart by nuclear war and the only survivors live deep in the Moscow subway.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Research shows that they, too, are affected by redundancies and often experience survivor guilt.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It has become a part of the survivor's experience, but only one part of it.
Herman, Judith Lewis Trauma and Recovery (1992)
The British team found no survivors yesterday - only a body in the wreckage of an office building.
The Sun (2011)
Arriving in disused cellars, you find you are part of a team of eight survivors, on the run from a brutal alien invader.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
A hundred thousand people a month are dying of cold and starvation, and survivors live like shivering, scavenging wolves.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Word lists with
survivor
Property law terms
In other languages
survivor
British English: survivor /səˈvaɪvə/ NOUN
A survivor of a disaster, accident, or illness is someone who continues to live afterwards in spite of coming close to death.