sustain
part of speech
verb (sustain, sustains, sustained, sustaining)
meaning for a pupil
1) To sustain something is to keep it going for a long time. tree →
2) To sustain someone is to give them the food, strength or support they need to live. tree →
3) To sustain an injury or damage is to suffer it (formal). tree →
4) To sustain a weight is to hold it up without breaking. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons food and water sustain life, and «sustainable» means using resources so they don't run out. In the news people «sustain injuries» in accidents. In sport you sustain effort or a lead. Phrases: sustain life, sustain an injury, sustained effort.
examples
- Plants need sunlight to sustain life. tree →
- A good breakfast will sustain you until lunch. tree →
- The runner could not sustain her speed. tree →
- Two people sustained minor injuries in the crash. tree →
- The bridge can sustain heavy lorries. tree →
- Christians believe God sustains the world. tree →
- The class sustained their attention for the whole film. tree →
- Perhaps without anything to sustain life I may drag on my existence for a day or two. tree →
note
Formal word. Past: sustained. Nouns: sustenance (food), sustainability. «Sustain an injury» is a formal way of saying «get hurt».
In the corpora
- And the king said unto Barzillai: 'Come thou over with me, and I will sustain thee with me in Jerusalem.'
- I lay me down, and I sleep; I awake, for the LORD sustaineth me.
- Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain thee; He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
- My soul melteth away for heaviness; sustain me according unto Thy word.
- The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a broken spirit who can bear?
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sustain» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.