1
Core action
Maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
Example
The wetlands sustain a diverse bird population.
sustain
/səˈsteɪn/ · suh-STAYNverb
Maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
Use sustain to express this relationship precisely: maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
What sustain Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Common construction
Use this expression in its normal grammatical frame so the relationship between the surrounding ideas remains explicit.
Example
The court sustained the objection.
3
Reasoning effect
It tells the reader how to interpret the timing, scope, evidence, contrast, condition, or consequence in the statement.
Example
The evidence cannot sustain such a broad conclusion.
Use sustain Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
The wetlands sustain a diverse bird population.
The court sustained the objection.
The evidence cannot sustain such a broad conclusion.
Precision Matters
Sustain overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
sustain
vs.Means maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
suppress
Means prevent, restrain, stop, or keep something from being expressed, revealed, or developing.
sustain
vs.Means maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
eradicate
Means destroy, remove, or eliminate something completely.
sustain
vs.Means maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
refute
Means to prove that a claim is false.
sustain
vs.Means maintain, support, or keep something continuing; also, uphold a claim or decision as valid.
perpetuate
Means cause a condition, practice, belief, or problem to continue indefinitely.
Test sustain in Context
The evidence cannot support and uphold the claim as valid.
1
The available records are too incomplete to ___ the claim that the settlement was continuously occupied.