Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🍞 To keep alive 🔁 To continue 🤕 To suffer ⚖️ To accept legally 🪨 To support physically 📚 To support with facts
to sustain

to sustain

41 4.1
To hold up something heavy so it does not fall
  • verb
  • /səˈsteɪn/
translation icon : soportar
  • The bridge was designed to sustain heavy loads without collapsing.
  • sustain a load

You point out circuits and the the one point thing should know you pretty well and you should know the holes and the angle of the wall so that it's sustained.

Examples

  • There were other islands, small and mostly rocky, though all sustained at least a sprinkling of growth.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • And now it's the state's only self-sustaining scallop farm.

    Wedding Crashers (2005)

  • In the plants, they can sustain more pressure.

  • So it does show me that this type of environment can sustain a really healthy citrus tree.

  • The Vatican has sustained some structural damage.

    Fast X (2023)

  • Was your Westminster Abbey able to sustain the fury of that wind and rain?

    Fiction book (1998)

  • In short, such technological advances enabled the environment to sustain a larger number of inhabitants.

    Academic text (1996)

  • These roots can sustain this many leafing joints.

  • My hips can't really sustain a backpack.

    Life of the Party (2018)

  • Instead of a lawn, there was a packed-down dirt patch that sustained only a few pale-green, sickly weeds.

    Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

to hold
vsto sustain
∞ 1.0

To carry or support something with your hands

is about supporting weight broadly rather than by using hands
to balance
vsto sustain
285 2.0

To keep something steady so it does not fall

relies on bearing weight rather than equal distribution of forces
to support
vsto sustain
240 1.0

Hold up something so it does not fall

means the same idea but uses a different word
to stabilize
vsto sustain
  • US
197 3.7

To make something steady so it stops moving or falling

focuses on bearing weight rather than the process of making steady
to hold up
vsto sustain
115 3.4

To support the weight of something so it does not fall

focuses on general bearing rather than the act of carrying
to stay
vsto sustain
  • Specialized
82 7.7

To make something stable by fixing ropes or braces

is broader not limited to fastening with ropes or braces
to prop
vsto sustain
68 4.1

To hold something up by putting an object under or against it

uses general bearing rather than only using objects underneath
to suspend
vsto sustain
64 3.5

To hang something so it can move or swing

holds weight to prevent collapse not to hang and swing
to prop up
vsto sustain
54 3.6

Support something so it does not fall or fail

covers general weight bearing rather than that specific placement method
to hold steady
vsto sustain
17 2.9

Keep something or someone in place and still

keeps weight supported but does not require complete stillness

Antonyms

to drop
∞ 1.0

To let something fall suddenly or by accident

to let go
∞ 1.4

To stop holding something or someone so they are free

How Strong

to sustain
41 4.1
to hold up
115 3.4
to support
240 1.0
to bear
517 3.5
to rest on
58 3.7

Surface Forms

sustain infinitive
sustained past
sustained past participle
sustaining present participle
sustains third person singular

Etymology

Sustain comes from Latin parts sub- 'under' and tenere 'to hold', so it meant 'hold up from below'. So when something sustains a bridge, it 'holds it up' and keeps it from falling.