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.
Syn. — To support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo.
Sustain
(Sus*tain") n. One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer. [Obs.]
I waked again, for my sustain was the Lord.
Milton. Sustainable
(Sus*tain"a*ble) a. [Cf. F. soutenable, OF. soustenable.] Capable of being sustained or
maintained; as, the action is not sustainable.
Sustained
(Sus*tained") a. Held up to a certain pitch, degree, or level; uniform; as, sustained pasion; a
sustained style of writing; a sustained note in music.
Sustainer
(Sus*tain"er) n. One who, or that which, sustains. Waterland.
Sustainment
(Sus*tain"ment) n. The act of sustaining; maintenance; support. Milton. Lowell.
Sustaltic
(Sus*tal"tic) a. [Gr. contractile, fr. to draw together, to moderate; together + to place.] Mournful; —
said of a species of music among the ancient Greeks. Busby.
Sustenance
(Sus"te*nance) n. [OF. sustenance, sostenance, soustenance: cf. L. sustenentia endurance.
See Sustain.]
1. The act of sustaining; support; maintenance; subsistence; as, the sustenance of the body; the sustenance
of life.