All 8 Uses
sustain
in
Jane Eyre
(Edited)
- A pause — in which I began to steady the palsy of my nerves, and to feel that the Rubicon was passed; and that the trial, no longer to be shirked, must be firmly sustained.
p. 78.8 *sustained = endured (suffered through)
- Now I wept: Helen Burns was not here; nothing sustained me; left to myself I abandoned myself, and my tears watered the boards.
p. 81.3sustained = supported
- She had Roman features and a double chin, disappearing into a throat like a pillar: these features appeared to me not only inflated and darkened, but even furrowed with pride; and the chin was sustained by the same principle, in a position of almost preternatural erectness.
p. 200.2
- This was the point — this was where the nerve was touched and teased — this was where the fever was sustained and fed: she could not charm him.
p. 216.6
- kindly conversation could not be sustained between us
p. 353.2 *sustained = maintained (continued through time)
- I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.
p. 365.4 *unsustained = unsupportedstandard prefix: 'The prefix "un-" in unsustained means not and reverses the meaning of sustained. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.'
- Oh, Providence! sustain me a little longer!
p. 379.8sustain = support
- I was so fully aware that only serious moods and occupations were acceptable, that in his presence every effort to sustain or follow any other became vain: I fell under a freezing spell.
p. 459.4
Definitions:
-
(1)
(sustain as in: sustained by her faith) provide support or necessities
-
(2)
(sustain as in: sustained through the ages) to continue through time
-
(3)
(sustain as in: sustained wounds) to suffer (as of injury, damage, or loss)
-
(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, sustained can be voiced by a judge in a court of law to indicate that an objection is upheld.