ENGLISH
REFERENCE

survive

v.
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //sɝˈvaɪv// UK //səvˈaɪv// sur·vive Academic General-service

v. to stay alive or continue to exist after a dangerous or difficult situation. You can also use it when you manage to get through a hard time at work or school.

v. to continue to live or exist, especially after coming close to death or experiencing a period of extreme hardship. Transitive when followed by a direct object representing the threat or the duration of survival.


SIMPLE

The small plants survive even in the cold winter.

CONTEXTUAL

Many local businesses struggled to survive the economic downturn, but this shop stayed open by selling online.

COMPLEX

While the primary objective was to survive the initial impact of the storm, the community soon shifted its focus toward long-term recovery and rebuilding essential infrastructure.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervivere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive.

Usage

The verb is both transitive and intransitive. When transitive, it does not require a preposition before the event or period (e.g., 'survive the crash', not 'survive from the crash').

Pitfall

He survived from the accident.He survived the accident.When 'survive' means to live through a specific event, it is transitive and does not take the preposition 'from'.

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