sustains

verb

present tense third-person singular of sustain
1
as in nurtures
to supply with nourishment a granola bar should sustain you long enough to last until lunch

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2
as in undergoes
to come to a knowledge of (something) by living through it sustained serious injuries in the car crash

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3
as in endures
to put up with (something painful or difficult) I won't sustain such insolence!

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in supports
to hold up or serve as a foundation for that old chair won't sustain your weight

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sustains All of the new rules pose a risk to the industry that sprang up in the wake of the 2019 law, which Sergi says generates over $5 billion in revenue, sustains nearly 49,000 jobs and contributes over $250 million in tax money. — Steven Rosenbaum, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 Ford is among the few filmmakers who succeeds in filming a stage performance with visual attention (a combination of duration and framing) that sustains literary continuity yet never recedes to mere home-video-like recording. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026 If Willis sustains an injury, a high draft pick also would be helpful. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 15 Aug. 2026 Lê is interested in all the activity that fills a day, in its movement and sound, and attentive to the busy ecosystem that surrounds and sustains his principal characters. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 10 Aug. 2026 However, stocks of major infrastructure players, including Hewlett Packard, likely have more room to run as a boom in artificial intelligence data centers sustains a longer, but still cyclical, infrastructure upcycle, according to Morgan Stanley. — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 10 Aug. 2026 Financial contributions sustain operations, institutional capital sustains legitimacy and legitimacy sustains international cooperation. — Ekramy El Zaghat, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026 Certainly, if a position sustains damage, Tobin would never block off the idea of adding, and that’s in play every year. — Paul Dehner Jr, New York Times, 27 July 2026 The pacing sometimes goes slack, but even when the narrative starts wandering, Simple Town boasts a goofy magnetism that sustains the movie astonishingly well. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 21 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sustains
  1. nurtures
  2. undergoes
  3. endures
  4. supports
  5. satisfies
  6. experiences
  7. tolerates
  8. carries
Verb
  • Packed with potent ingredients like isopropyl cloprostenate, amino acids, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin E, this formula nurtures and enhances your brows from the root.
    — Iman Balagam, Vogue, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Parentheses, turning the inside of a sentence out and the outside in, ask readers to shuttle back and forth, exercising mental agility that nurtures a flexible set of thoughts and feelings.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of nurtures
Verb
  • The fundraiser was created to help the couple cover medical bills, living expenses and other costs as Lloyd undergoes treatment.
    — sameen, USA Today, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Matthew undergoes periodic brain scans, which are a nerve-wracking time for his parents.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of undergoes
Verb
  • Korean action director Na Hong-jin made a splash with this premiere, in which the town of Hope endures an alien invasion.
    — Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Known as Iron Week, the competition is led by three-time Olympic triathlete Danylo Sapunov, who supports veterans as the country endures more than four years of war since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of endures
Verb
  • The commitment supports Nvidia's argument that customers are generating enough returns on its AI infrastructure to justify continued spending.
    — Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Why doctors say bidets may be healthier Converts often describe simply feeling cleaner, and some research supports the idea.
    — Hanna Wickes, Sacbee.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of supports
Verb
  • Central to the reorganization is an institutional separation between standard setting and conformity assessment—the process used to determine whether a product, facility or company satisfies those standards.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • In two or more dimensions, both of these lines count as fractals — that’s because a line takes up no area and leaves most of the surrounding space empty, which satisfies the condition of having many holes.
    — Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of satisfies
Verb
  • One person experiences conflict as an urgent threat to the relationship and needs to resolve it immediately.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
  • If someone experiences or sees any of the following behaviors in someone after a blow to the head, call for emergency services.
    — Connie Etermadi, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of experiences
Verb
  • But a coalition that tolerates antisemitism doesn’t deserve to get it.
    — Doug Schneider, New York Daily News, 28 Aug. 2026
  • It's built by what leadership consistently rewards, tolerates and refuses to compromise on.
    — Brandon Shannon, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of tolerates
Verb
  • Out back, a single monoshock is mounted to the massive single-sided swingarm that carries the solo rear wheel shod in a wiiiide 305/30R20 Kenda meat.
    — William Roberson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Brooks ran for 106 yards on 27 carries last season while contributing primarily on special teams.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of carries

Browse Nearby Words

sustaining
sustains
sustenance
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Cite this Entry

“Sustains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sustains. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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