survive

[ ser-vahyv ]
/ sərˈvaɪv /

verb (used without object), sur·vived, sur·viv·ing.

to remain alive after the death of someone, the cessation of something, or the occurrence of some event; continue to live: Few survived after the holocaust.
to remain or continue in existence or use: Ancient farming methods still survive in the Middle East.
to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence: She's surviving after the divorce.

verb (used with object), sur·vived, sur·viv·ing.

to continue to live or exist after the death, cessation, or occurrence of: His wife survived him. He survived the operation.
to endure or live through (an affliction, adversity, misery, etc.): She's survived two divorces.

Origin of survive

1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French survivre < Latin supervīvere, equivalent to super- super- + vīvere to live; see sur-1, vivid

SYNONYMS FOR survive

1 persist, succeed. Survive, outlive refer to remaining alive longer than someone else or after some event. Survive usually means to succeed in keeping alive against odds, to live after some event that has threatened one: to survive an automobile accident. It is also used of living longer than another person (usually a relative), but, today, mainly in the passive, as in the fixed expression: The deceased is survived by his wife and children. Outlive stresses capacity for endurance, the time element, and sometimes a sense of competition: He outlived all his enemies. It is also used, however, of a person or object that has lived or lasted beyond a certain point: He has outlived his usefulness.

OTHER WORDS FROM survive

self-sur·viv·ing, adjective un·sur·vived, adjective un·sur·viv·ing, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for survive

British Dictionary definitions for survive

survive
/ (səˈvaɪv) /

verb

(tr) to live after the death of (another) he survived his wife by 12 years
to continue in existence or use after (a passage of time, an adversity, etc)
informal to endure (something) I don't know how I survive such an awful job

Derived forms of survive

survivable, adjective survivability, noun

Word Origin for survive

C15: from Old French sourvivre, from Latin supervīvere, from super- + vīvere to live