survive

survive — verb

1. To keep living or stay in existence after going through a dangerous or difficult

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

To keep living or stay in existence after going through a dangerous or difficult event, such as a serious illness, an accident, a war, or a time without enough food or money.

Example

Tariq survived the earthquake because he managed to run out of his apartment building before it fell.

survive + noun phrase (the threat)

After losing his job, João managed to survive on his savings for about five months.

survive on + noun phrase (resources)

Common collocations
  • survive a crash
  • survive an illness
  • survive an attack
  • survive the winter
  • survive on little money
  • survive on food aid
  • survive against the odds
Synonyms
  • weather

    Suggests getting through a storm or crisis with some difficulty; slightly less formal and more metaphorical

  • endure

    Emphasises suffering or hardship over a long period rather than narrowly escaping death

  • make it through

    Informal phrasal expression, used in everyday conversation

Antonyms
  • perish

    Formal or literary; means to die or be completely destroyed

  • die

    The direct opposite in most everyday contexts

Grammar Patterns

survive + noun phrase (the threat or event)

survive on + noun phrase (what sustains life)

survive (no object)

Usage Note

The threat or difficulty is usually placed directly after the verb without a preposition (survive the winter, survive a heart attack). To indicate the resources that keep someone alive, use the pattern 'survive on + noun' (survive on a small income).

Common Mistakes

The old building survived from the earthquake.
The old building survived the earthquake.
'survive' is transitive here and does not need a preposition before the threat.
Sara survived of the accident.
Sara survived the accident.
'survive' is never followed by 'of'.

2. To stay alive after another person, especially a close family member, has passed

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

To stay alive after another person, especially a close family member, has passed away, often used when discussing how much longer someone lived.

Example

Christopher's mother survived his father by more than twelve years.

survive + person + by + time period

According to the family records, Esteban survived all three of his older brothers.

survive + person (family member)

Common collocations
  • survive one's spouse
  • survive one's children
  • survive someone by several years
Synonyms
  • outlive

    Less formal and more neutral in emotion; the most common alternative

  • outlast

    Can be used for both people and objects; focuses on continuing existence rather than emotional loss

Antonyms
  • predecease

    Formal term meaning to die before someone else; the direct opposite in structure

Grammar Patterns

survive + noun phrase (a person)

survive + noun phrase + by + time period

Usage Note

More common in formal or written contexts than in casual conversation. The person who is survived may be of any age, though the sense typically highlights a situation in which a normally expected order (older person outliving younger) is reversed or noteworthy.

Common Mistakes

She survived her husband for 20 years.
She survived her husband by 20 years.
Use 'by' (not 'for') to state the length of time one person outlives another.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe continuing to exist through difficulty, but they differ in scope and register. 'Survive' is the broadest and most neutral — it covers anything from a literal brush with death (surviving a plane crash) to a difficult economy (businesses surviving a recession). 'Weather' carries a metaphor of riding out a storm and often suggests temporary hardship (weathering a crisis, weathering criticism). 'Endure' emphasises sustained suffering over time and has a more formal, weighty tone (enduring years of war, enduring extreme pain). 'Make it through' is the most informal, used in everyday speech for challenges with a clear endpoint (making it through the week, making it through an exam). For everyday conversation, 'make it through' and 'survive' are the go-to choices; for formal writing, 'endure' or 'weather' add appropriate gravity.

survive ↗weather ↗endure ↗make it through

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • narrowly survive
  • barely survive
  • miraculously survive
  • somehow survive

Phrases

  • survive against all odds
  • survive by the skin of one's teeth
  • survive on a shoestring budget

Prepositions

  • survive as (a species)
  • survive into (old age)
  • survive through (the winter)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

From Latin 'supervivere', a combination of 'super-' (meaning 'over' or 'beyond') and 'vivere' (meaning 'to live'). It passed into Old French as 'survivre' and then into Middle English. The core idea — living beyond or after something — has remained consistent since the word first appeared in English around the 1400s.