subsist

verb sub·sist \ səb-ˈsist \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 2018

Examples: subsist in a Sentence

Definition of subsist

subsisted; subsisting; subsists

intransitive verb

1 a : to have existence : be

b : persist, continue

2 : to have or acquire the necessities of life (such as food and clothing); especially : to nourish oneself

subsisting on roots, berries and grubs

3 a : to hold true

b : to be logically conceivable as the subject of true statements

transitive verb

: to support with provisions

See subsist defined for English-language learners

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Examples of subsist in a Sentence

The author's right to royalties shall subsist for the term of the copyright.
a love that was as great as any that ever did subsist

Recent Examples of subsist from the Web

Identifying which news outlets are authoritative is hard enough in the United States, where people can subsist on completely different media diets according to their politics.

— issie lapowsky, WIRED, "YouTube Debuts Plan to Promote and Fund 'Authoritative' News," 9 July 2018
During the Golden State Warriors’ title-celebrating parade, Draymond Green couldn’t resist the opportunity to feed NBA Twitter (which subsists on a diet of advanced statistics and memes) by taking yet another jab at LeBron James.

— liz raiss, GQ, "Draymond Green Trolled LeBron James Via T-Shirt," 13 June 2018
Also, sick in the tissue and in the head and subsisting only on small amounts of sugar, tons of caffeine and a purse pharmacy.

— blake bakkila, Health.com, "Lena Dunham Gained 24 Pounds—and Is Happier Than Ever," 10 July 2018
But for all the tough talk, the reality is that her agency subsists on an annual budget of 7.5 million euros, equivalent to $9 million.

— adam satariano, New York Times, "New Privacy Rules Could Make This Woman One of Tech’s Most Important Regulators," 16 May 2018
Tom Bondurant, a Roanoke attorney who represents the Terry family, told me on Friday that Red subsisted on three bologna sandwiches a day.

— sarah jones, The New Republic, "Whose Appalachia Is It, Anyway?," 8 May 2018
Projects will range from parking experiments to public transit projects — a once unthinkable business move for a company that subsists on the profits of its trucks and SUVs.

— tamara warren, The Verge, "Inside Detroit’s crumbling train station that Ford plans to transform into a mobility lab," 20 June 2018
Be adorable or memorable enough, and a contestant can become Instafamous and subsist on brand partnerships after the show.

— refinery29.com, "The Secret Lives Of Becca's Bachelorette Men," 29 May 2018
Salman subsisted on money from his brother, then-King Fahd, Prince Mohammed has told people.

— bradley hope, WSJ, "‘I Am the Mastermind’: Mohammed bin Salman’s Guide to Getting Rich," 16 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of subsist

Late Latin subsistere to exist, from Latin, to come to a halt, remain, from sub- + sistere to come to a stand; akin to Latin stare to stand — more at stand

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1549

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year