Sustain

Part of speech: noun (n.)

One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer. [Obs.] I waked again, for my sustain was the Lord. Milton.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight. Every pillar the temple to sustain. Chaucer.

2. Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support. No comfortable expectations of another life to sustain him under the evils in this world. Tillotson.

3. To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army.

4. To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate. Shak. His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain. Dryden.

5. To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment.

6. To suffer; to bear; to undergo. Shall Turnus, then, such endless toil sustain Dryden. You shall sustain more new disgraces. Shak.

7. To allow the prosecution of; to admit as valid; to sanction; to continue; not to dismiss or abate; as, the court sustained the action or suit.

8. To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition.

Synonyms: support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo.