verb · academic
sustain
/səˈsteɪn/sus·TAIN
Band 7+task2task1
to maintain something over a period of time; to support
Examples
“Sustainable farming practices help sustain food supplies for growing populations.”
“In Task 2 you might argue whether governments should sustain public spending during a recession.”
“The company struggled to sustain profits after the market crash.”
Band 8 sentence
“Long-term economic policies should aim not only to increase growth but to sustain improvements in living standards.”
Collocations
- sustain growth/development
- sustain life/resources
Word family
sustainable adjsustainability n
Common mistakes
use 'maintain' in place of 'sustain' in environmental contexts→sustain
Say it for a higher band
5keep→6maintain→7+sustain
Synonyms
maintain
preserve
Easily confused
maintain
“They maintained the machines every month to prevent breakdowns.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Sublist 7
Learn it with its set