Survive

To remain alive or continue through serious difficulty.

Reach for it when describing continued life, existence, or function through serious difficulty

The rescued saplings survived the dry summer.

• everyday

  outlast

  when continuing longer than a threat, rival, or expected limit matters

  not when Outlast frames survival competitively and can sound callous about people.

• warm

  make it through

  when conversational reassurance suits a difficult period

  not when The phrase can minimize grave trauma if used too lightly.

• warm

  pull through

  when recovery from illness or immediate danger is hoped for

  not when It does not fit institutions, traditions, or species continuing over generations.

• professional

  persist

  when a pattern, practice, or condition continues despite pressure

  not when Calling a person persistent shifts attention from survival to effort.

• formal

  endure

  when bearing hardship over time is the central fact

  not when Endure stresses suffering and may not mean remaining alive.

• formal

  remain

  when simple continued existence is all the evidence supports

  not when Remain omits the hardship that makes survival meaningful.

• literary

  weather

  when someone or something comes through a difficult period intact

  not when Weather suits temporary adversity, not every life-threatening event.

• perish
• succumb
• collapse

• survive the winter

  The young olive trees need shelter to survive the winter.

• survive a crisis

  Small museums often rely on local donors to survive a crisis.

• struggle to survive

  The rescued colony continued to struggle to survive after the drought.

• wiktionary, English verb, remain alive or continue to exist sense ↗opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.