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# sustenance

«sustenance» in Mova's judaism dictionary: **food and drink that keeps a person, animal or plant alive…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (sustenance — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) Sustenance is food and drink that keeps a person, animal or plant alive and strong: "The travellers had no sustenance for days." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#m1)

2) Sustenance also means anything that supports or strengthens someone, like comfort, hope or faith: "Her letters gave him sustenance." [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In formal or old-fashioned writing, history and the Bible, it means nourishment. In science, it links to food chains and nutrients that living things need. In church language, believers may speak of prayer or faith as spiritual sustenance. Phrases: "means of sustenance", "spiritual sustenance", "for sustenance".

### examples

- and they encamped against them, and destroyed the produce of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance in Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. (Prophets JDG.6.4, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x1)
- Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old; and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. (Prophets 2SA.19.33, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x2)
- The explorers needed sustenance after the long walk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x3)
- Bread was the main sustenance of poor families in the past. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x4)
- Plants get sustenance from sunlight, water and soil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x5)
- Many Christians say prayer gives them spiritual sustenance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x6)
- The squirrels stored nuts for sustenance in winter. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x7)
- A cup of tea and a biscuit gave Grandma some sustenance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x8)
- Hope was their only sustenance during the war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x9)
- Inconsolable at his loss, she threw herself upon the ground, and refused all sustenance. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/#x10)

### note

Uncountable and formal; simpler words: food, nourishment. Related verb: sustain. Spelling: "sustenance", not "sustainance".

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «sustenance» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/S/sustenance/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.