Used in a Sentence

sustain

How to use sustain in a sentence. Example sentences and definitions for sustain.

Editorial note

How can they possibly sustain this kind of revenue growth?

Examples14
Definitions7
Parts of speech1

Quick take

lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work"

Meaning at a glance

The clearest senses and uses of sustain gathered in one view.

verb

lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work"

verb

undergo (as of injuries and illnesses); "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle"

verb

provide with nourishment; "We sustained ourselves on bread and water"; "This kind of food is not nourishing for young children"

Definitions

Core meanings and parts of speech for sustain.

verb

lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work"

verb

undergo (as of injuries and illnesses); "She suffered a fracture in the accident"; "He had an insulin shock after eating three candy bars"; "She got a bruise on her leg"; "He got his arm broken in the scuffle"

verb

provide with nourishment; "We sustained ourselves on bread and water"; "This kind of food is not nourishing for young children"

verb

supply with necessities and support; "She alone sustained her family"; "The money will sustain our good cause"; "There's little to earn and many to keep"

verb

be the physical support of; carry the weight of; "The beam holds up the roof"; "He supported me with one hand while I balanced on the beam"; "What's holding that mirror?"

verb

admit as valid; "The court sustained the motion"

Example sentences

1

How can they possibly sustain this kind of revenue growth?

2

And each of those channels has a lot of raw bandwidth and can sustain a high transaction rate.

3

A trumpet can only play one note at a time, while a piano has very limited sustain.

4

How can you possible build a sustainable business by going from 0 to 8,000 employees in two years?

5

[c] It was a popular dot-com bubble plan to focus on market share with a free product at a sustained financial loss.

6

Their banks will hear "Internet merchant did not deliver as promised" and sustain the chargeback automatically.

7

"At some point you have to build a real business, generate real profits, sustain the company without the largess of investor’s capital, and start producing value the old fashioned way. "Exactly.

8

His machine, a Farnsworth fusor, should more appropriately be called a "reactor", because it can only sustain a fusion reaction, but it cannot generate power.

9

* Initiate or sustain joint efforts with people on other projects, so they don't stagnate every time developers get distracted by other commitments.

10

So how annoying it is when you're bootstrapping a company, you have your price-points carefully set, you're doing a cracker job at concentrating on 'how to sustain the company without investors capital' and then boom.

11

Here's my personal story, some may find interesting- I was finishing my masters in the UK and split up with my ex girlfriend, this meant I had to get a job quickly to sustain myself because I had nowhere to live and no money.

12

Of all the players in this terrible tragedy, the terrorists, the police, the news media, the administration, the politicians, the security-industrial complex and so forth -- it's in everybody's interest to create and sustain some huge public spectacle.

13

Notch strongly believes that the computer should stay a bastion of openness in order to sustain a indie game community--indeed, the majority of my own games I play today are small, independent games that provide a unique experience that I would hate to lose due to higher barriers to entry.

14

The world circa 1750 where everyone was a farmer and grew their own food and sewed their own clothes and generally did 95% of the activities necessary to sustain their lives, or the world circa 2013 where everyone does a hyper-specialized job and depends on the labor of thousands of other people doing hyper-specialized jobs to maintain their lifestyle?

Frequently asked questions

Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.

How do you use sustain in a sentence?

How can they possibly sustain this kind of revenue growth?

What does sustain mean?

lengthen or extend in duration or space; "We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as long as possible"; "prolong the treatment of the patient"; "keep up the good work"

What part of speech is sustain?

sustain is commonly used as verb.