Definition

Adjective: - Continuing to live or exist; remaining alive or in existence after others have died or ceased to be. This describes something or someone that has endured through a challenging event, period of time, or process of elimination.

Usage

The adjective "surviving" is used to describe the sole or one of the few remaining examples of a person, group, or thing from the past. It emphasizes endurance through adversity, danger, or the passage of time. - It typically comes before a noun (e.g., the surviving member) or after a linking verb like "is" or "are." - It often implies a contrast with others that did not survive.

Examples

• Attributive use (before a noun):
  • She is the only surviving witness to the crime.
  • The museum displays surviving artifacts from the ancient city.
• Predicative use (after a linking verb):
  • This tradition is no longer surviving in its original form.
  • After the epidemic, very few members of the community were surviving.

Advanced Usage

• "the surviving [noun]": A common phrase used to specify what remains from a larger set.
  • The surviving manuscripts of the poet's work are housed in the national library.
• Used in legal or formal contexts regarding heirs or relatives.
  • The estate was divided among the surviving children.

Variants and Related Words

• Survive (verb): To continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger or hardship.
  • Few buildings survived the earthquake.
• Survival (noun): The state or fact of continuing to live or exist.
  • The survival of the species is under threat.
• Survivor (noun): A person who survives, especially a person remaining alive after an event in which others have died.
  • The survivors of the shipwreck were rescued.

Synonyms

• Remaining: Left over after others have been removed or used.
• Extant: Still in existence; surviving (used especially of documents or artifacts).
• Enduring: Lasting over a long period; durable.

Antonyms

• Extinct: No longer in existence.
• Deceased: No longer living; dead.
• Lost: No longer possessed or existing.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• Surviving spouse: The husband or wife who remains alive after the other's death.
  • The pension benefits are transferred to the surviving spouse.
• Last surviving: The final remaining example or member.
  • He was the last surviving veteran of that battle.

Adjective

1. still in existence
   • the Wollemi pine found in Australia is a surviving specimen of a conifer thought to have been long extinct and therefore known as a living fossil
   • the only surviving frontier blockhouse in Pennsylvania