surviveverb
uk/səˈvaɪv/us/sɚˈvaɪv/B2 [ I or T ] to continue to live or exist, especially after coming close to dying or being destroyed or after being in a difficult or threatening situation:
The baby was born with a heart problem and only survived for a few hours.
These plants cannot survive in very cold conditions.
None of Shakespeare's plays survives in its original manuscript form.
The family are struggling to survive on very little money.
The front passengers were lucky to survive the accident.
The chairman of the board succeeded in surviving the challenge to his authority.
"How are you?" "Oh, (I'm) surviving (= life is satisfactory, but not very good)."
[ T ] to continue to live after someone, especially a member of your family, has died:
He is survived by his wife and four children.
More examples
- There's only a fifty-fifty chance that she'll survive the operation.
- Friendless and jobless, he wondered how he would survive the year ahead.
- Fugitive families who have fled the fighting in the cities are now trying to survive in the mountains.
- A large amount of money will have to be injected into the company if it is to survive.
- A small dog had somehow managed to survive the fire.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Life and living
- alive
- animate
- borrow
- cheat
- cheat death idiom
- co-exist
- hold
- immortal
- inanimate
- last
- last out
- lead 1
- life cycle
- life expectancy
- live out sth
- living
- longevity
- outlive
- subsist
- subsistence
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Experiencing and suffering