sustenance

noun

sus·te·nance ˈsə-stə-nən(t)s

Synonyms of sustenance next

: means of support, maintenance, or subsistence : living

: food, provisions

also : nourishment

: the act of sustaining : the state of being sustained

: a supplying or being supplied with the necessaries of life

: something that gives support, endurance, or strength

Examples of sustenance in a Sentence

Tree bark provides deer with sustenance in periods of drought. The village depends on the sea for sustenance. She draws spiritual sustenance from daily church attendance.

Recent Examples on the Web For sustenance, the men will be able to choose from dehydrated meals, a selection of cookies and other snacks. —

Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY, 4 Sep. 2023 But in Sri Lanka, a country that has withstood immense upheaval, paan is sustenance—and the choon paan van, an unlikely symbol of surviving against the odds. —

Vidya Balachander, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Aug. 2023 And as Biden seems to be implicitly suggesting, that may not only threaten the sustenance of liberal Zionist ideals. —

Eric Cortellessa, Time, 18 July 2023 The sailor is known for his sleeve tattoos, use of profanity and finding sustenance in cigarettes and coffee. —

Detroit Free Press, 25 July 2023 The school system serves about 540,000 meals per day and for some students is the main source of sustenance, providing breakfast and lunch — and dinner in some situations. —

Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023 China’s distant-water fishing fleet of approximately 10,000 vessels is rapidly depleting fish stocks worldwide, especially those of coastal communities that rely on them for sustenance, and the fleet is believed to have been fashioned to serve military as well as commercial purposes. —

Win McCormack, The New Republic, 10 Aug. 2023 Another possibility is that the mother walrus was killed by Alaska Natives who are allowed to hunt walruses for sustenance, Fischbach said. —

Cathy Free, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2023 Those microorganisms, in turn, feed fish, which serve as a primary source of sustenance for belugas. —

Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 July 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sustenance.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.