outlive

verb

out·live | \ ˌau̇t-ˈliv

outlived; outliving; outlives

Definition of outlive

transitive verb

1 : to live beyond or longer than outlived most of his friends outlive its usefulness

2 : to survive the effects of universities … outlive many political and social changes— J. B. Conant

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about outlive

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Examples of outlive in a Sentence

No mother wants to outlive her children. He outlived his wife by 10 years.

Recent Examples on the Web

Cole survived, and would outlive all his 79 fellow raiders.... — Laura Hillenbrand, WSJ, "The Last of the Doolittle Raiders Is Gone," 11 Apr. 2019 There are many examples of brands outliving their longtime designers. — Suzanne Kapner, WSJ, "Keeping Chanel on Top in the Post-Lagerfeld Era," 22 Feb. 2019 Fast-forward 50 years and Russia's most famous spacecraft is still in business, outliving all of its contemporaries—and even some of its much more capable successors. — Anatoly Zak, Popular Mechanics, "The Model T of Space: Russian Soyuz Spacecraft Turns 50," 28 Nov. 2016 The movie outlived Club 57, the Mudd Club, et al, by decades. — J. Hoberman, New York Times, "Revisiting the Downtown Scene Through Alien Eyes in ‘Liquid Sky’," 11 Apr. 2018 But extreme cases aside, the Tooth Fairy may be a fairy tale that has outlived its welcome in some houses. — Charlotte Hilton Andersen, Redbook, "The Great Mom Debate: How Generous is the Tooth Fairy at Your House?," 5 Feb. 2012 The tree has long outlived its life expectancy — a bonsai typically doesn't live more than 200 years. — Lauren Smith, House Beautiful, "This Bonsai Tree Survived an Atomic Bomb," 7 Aug. 2015 Her kitchen has outlived her: My cousin Alexa has its contents — down to the least serviceable utensil — in her house in Baltimore. — Elizabeth Gilbert, Good Housekeeping, "Cook's Heaven," 6 Mar. 2012 Is this Maisie's way of telling the world that Arya Stark outlives every other character on the show (or, at very least, every other female character)? — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Maisie Williams Might Have Spoiled the End of 'Game of Thrones' With This Instagram Post," 7 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'outlive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.