sustaining
English
[edit]Verb
[edit]sustaining
- present participle and gerund of sustain
- 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
- Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and possessions.”
Noun
[edit]sustaining (plural sustainings)
- The process by which something is sustained or upheld.
- 2012, Alan Ryan, On Politics:
- Beginnings are very different from sustainings; the irregular, often violent, and improvised actions of the founder hero must be succeeded by the regular election of leaders according to law.
Adjective
[edit]sustaining (comparative more sustaining, superlative most sustaining)
- That sustains, supports or provides sustenance.
- 1641, John Milton, Of Prelatical Episcopacy[1], London: Thomas Underhill, page 24:
- […] eternall life, the end of all our wearisome labours, and all our sustaining hopes.
- 1771, Elizabeth Griffith, The History of Lady Barton, London: T. Davies & T. Cadell, Volume 2, Letter 31, p. 21,[2]
- I turned quick to look for him, and saw him coming towards me, with another gentleman—But I saw no more, my senses forsook me; in spite of Maria’s sustaining arm, I fell motionless on the ground.
- 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 58, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
- Sometimes, I had proceeded restlessly from place to place, stopping nowhere; sometimes, I had lingered long in one spot. I had had no purpose, no sustaining soul within me, anywhere.
- 1929, Josephine Tey, chapter 1, in The Man in the Queue[3], New York: Pocket Book, published 1977, page 5:
- They laughed and chattered, and passed each other sustaining bits of chocolate in torn silver paper.
- 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 8, in The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN:
- […] I was thirsty & went to sit in the shade of the tea-terrace. The tea, served impractically in a glass, was refreshing, somehow muddy & more sustaining than tea I am used to.
Translations
[edit]that sustains, supports or provides sustenance
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