sur·viv·al
| \ sər-ˈvī-vəl
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Definition of survival
1a
: the act or fact of living or continuing longer than another person or thing
b
: the continuation of life or existence
problems of survival in arctic conditions
2
: one that survives
Examples of survival in a Sentence
The refugees depend on foreign aid for their survival.
Small businesses are fighting for survival.
the survival of an old folktale
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Recent Examples on the Web
These gangs were born as a reflection of a broken society [and] created a mindset that this lifestyle is the only chance of survival. — Rick Kogan, chicagotribune.com, "Brave book ‘Chicagohoodz’ offers an illustrated history, of sorts, of Chicago street gangs," 26 Aug. 2019 Freak events like tropical cyclones could be having an evolutionary impact on spiders in storm-prone regions, which are already areas where the most aggressive spiders have the best odds of survival. — Fox News, "Spiders are getting angrier because of evolutionary trick to survive ‘climate chaos’," 21 Aug. 2019 Now the two companies are uniting again, but this time as an act of survival. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Why Viacom and CBS Had to Merge to Survive," 19 Aug. 2019 Remember, time is critical: Chance of survival drops steeply after 18 minutes, to less than 30 percent. — Jenny Howard, National Geographic, "Avalanche safety tips and preparation," 5 Aug. 2019 Ramon is now a sought after speaker, telling his incredible story of survival. — Peter Van Sant, CBS News, "Former boxer marked for murder goes undercover to catch the person who wanted him dead," 20 July 2019 Someone who suffers a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital has about a 10 percent chance of survival. — oregonlive.com, "Two Larrys, two cardiac arrests, two survivors thanks to AEDs," 20 July 2019 There is no licensed Ebola treatment, but early care such as rehydration helps to improve the chances of survival. — Cara Anna, The Denver Post, "FAQ: Why Ebola is now an international emergency, the Associated Press explains," 17 July 2019 Adult female fleas are capable of laying as many as 50 eggs per day (yes, per day!), and live up to 100 days in out-of-the-way places that skew the odds of survival in fleas’ favor. — Natalie Schumann, Country Living, "A Complete Guide to Getting Rid of Fleas in Your Home," 16 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'survival.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for survival
survival
noun
English Language Learners Definition of survival
: the state or fact of continuing to live or exist especially in spite of difficult conditions
: something from an earlier period that still exists or is done
See the full definition for survival in the English Language Learners Dictionary
survival
noun
sur·viv·al
| \ sər-ˈvī-vəl
\
\
Kids Definition of survival
: the continuation of life
Our survival depended on finding water.
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