survival

noun

sur·​viv·​al sər-ˈvī-vəl 

often attributive

1

a

: the act or fact of living or continuing longer than another person or thing

b

: the continuation of life or existence

problems of survival in arctic conditions

2

: one that survives

Examples of survival in a Sentence

The refugees depend on foreign aid for their survival.

Small businesses are fighting for survival.

the survival of an old folktale

Recent Examples on the Web

The 74-year-old François Bayrou resigns on Tuesday after choosing to gamble his political survival on a confidence vote a day earlier—and losing it by a huge margin. —Cole Stangler, Time, 9 Sep. 2025

For the first time in human history, your intelligence will no longer be critical to your survival. —Dev Patnaik, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

The survival thriller follows Ava, a desperate woman whose husband is missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic military experiment. —Alex Ritman, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025

The past eight months have been wasted by the US president in terms of planning for Ukraine’s survival and European security, with needless cozying up to Moscow and undermining of a strategic transatlantic alliance that Washington will still need in the decades to come. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing survival

• chance of survival
• survival instinct
• survival mechanism
• survival of the fittest

Rhymes for survival

• archival
• arrival
• revival
• conjunctival
• rival
• subconjunctival

Kids Definition

survival

noun

sur·​viv·​al sər-ˈvī-vəl 

1

: the act or fact of living or continuing longer than another person or thing

survival of half the population after the epidemic

2

: a continuation of life despite difficult conditions

skills for survival in the desert

3

: one that survives