# sustain

/səˈsteɪn/ (US) · /səstˈeɪn/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/sustain
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. to maintain

verb · CEFR B2 · Academic

to keep something going or continuing for a long time.

For teachers: to maintain or keep something in existence over a prolonged period. Transitive; often used in environmental or economic contexts.

- The company found it difficult to sustain such high levels of growth.
- The ecosystem can no longer sustain the current rate of resource extraction without risking total collapse.

### 2. to support life

verb · CEFR B2

to provide the food, water, or energy needed to stay alive.

For teachers: to provide for or nourish a living thing; to supply the necessities of life.

- There is not enough oxygen on the planet to sustain human life.
- The small oasis provides just enough water and vegetation to sustain the local wildlife during the harshest months of the dry season.

### 3. to suffer an injury

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal

to experience something bad, like an injury or a financial loss.

For teachers: to experience, undergo, or suffer something adverse, typically an injury or a loss. Transitive; common in medical and legal reporting.

- The driver sustained minor injuries in the car accident.
- The business sustained significant financial losses during the first quarter due to the unexpected shift in global trade policies.

### 4. to uphold a claim

verb · CEFR C1 · Formal · Technical

to agree that a legal objection or a claim is valid and correct.

For teachers: to allow, accept, or admit a legal objection or motion as valid. Used by a judge in a courtroom setting.

- The judge said 'Sustained' after the lawyer made a valid objection.
- The court chose to sustain the objection, ruling that the witness's testimony was based on hearsay rather than direct observation.

### 5. musical duration

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

the way a musical note continues to sound instead of stopping quickly.

For teachers: the quality of a musical note being held or maintained; also refers to the mechanism, such as a piano pedal, that enables this.

- The guitar has a beautiful sustain that lasts for several seconds.
- The pianist used the sustain pedal to blend the chords together, creating a rich and atmospheric soundscape.

## Examples

- The runner worked hard to sustain her speed until the finish line.
- The local ecosystem cannot sustain such a large population of deer without more natural predators to balance the numbers.
- The legal team argued that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a conviction, while the judge chose to sustain the objection raised by the defense regarding the witness's testimony.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.