Sustenance

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sustenance \Sus"te*nance\, n. [OF. sustenance, sostenance,
     soustenance: cf. L. sustenentia endurance. See {Sustain}.]
     1. The act of sustaining; support; maintenance; subsistence;
        as, the sustenance of the body; the sustenance of life.
        [1913 Webster]
  


     2. That which supports life; food; victuals; provisions;
        means of living; as, the city has ample sustenance. "A man
        of little sustenance." --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              For lying is thy sustenance, thy food. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sustenance
       n 1: a source of materials to nourish the body [syn: {nutriment},
             {nourishment}, {nutrition}, {aliment}, {alimentation},
            {victuals}]
       2: the financial means whereby one lives; "each child was
          expected to pay for their keep"; "he applied to the state
          for support"; "he could no longer earn his own livelihood"
          [syn: {support}, {keep}, {livelihood}, {living}, {bread
          and butter}]
       3: the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of
          subsistence; "they were in want of sustenance"; "fishing
          was their main sustainment" [syn: {sustentation}, {sustainment},
           {maintenance}, {upkeep}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  104 Moby Thesaurus words for "sustenance":
     TLC, aid, aliment, alimentation, alimony, backing, board, bread,
     bread and butter, care, carriage, carrying, cheer, chow,
     comestibles, continualness, continuance, continuation, continuity,
     creature comfort, cuisine, daily bread, eatables, eats,
     economic support, edibles, endowment, endurance, extension, fare,
     fast food, feast, food, food and drink, foodstuff, foodstuffs,
     groceries, grub, health food, ingesta, junk food, keep,
     kitchen stuff, lengthening, livelihood, living, maintenance, manna,
     meat, moral support, mothering, nosh, nourishment, nurture,
     nutriment, pabulum, pap, perpetuation, perseverance, persistence,
     price support, progress, progression, prolongation, protraction,
     provender, provision, provisions, psychological support, pursuance,
     rations, refection, refreshment, reliance, repetition, run, salt,
     scoff, security blanket, spread, staying power, straight course,
     subsidization, subsidy, subsistence, subvention, support,
     supportive relationship, supportive therapy, sustained action,
     sustaining, sustainment, sustentation, table, tender loving care,
     tucker, uninterrupted course, unremittingness, upholding, upkeep,
     viands, victuals, vittles, way