survival
/səˈvʌɪv(ə)l
/noun [mass noun]
1The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances: the animal’s chances of survival were pretty low figurative he was fighting for his political survival...
- He had nothing to live for, but somehow the human instinct for survival overcame all the odds.
- What this drug hopes to offer is a better life during treatment and a higher chance of survival overall.
- This discrepancy at birth is evened out later on, as the girl child has better instincts of survival.
1.1 [count noun] An object or practice that has continued to exist from an earlier time: his shorts were a survival from his army days...
- The Reformation settlement that established particular versions of Christianity as official religions in Britain has largely worn out, except for a few anachronistic survivals.
- One method through which this was achieved was by re-positioning the religious ritual forms as archaic survivals of a Hindu past.
- It would be imprudent to write them off as doomed archaic survivals.
Phrases
survival of the fittest