support

Support means to carry, hold up or bear the weight of someone or something.

(verb)

  1. An example of support is a tree branch that has a swing hanging from it.
  2. An example of support is someone carrying a child.

Support is defined as to provide comfort, encouragement or financial assistance to someone.

(verb)

  1. An example of support is listening to a friend in need.
  2. An example of support is lending money to a sibling.

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.

See support in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb

    1. to carry or bear the weight of; keep from falling, slipping or sinking; hold up
    2. to carry or bear (a specified weight, strain, pressure, etc.)
  1. to give courage, faith, or confidence to; help or comfort
  2. to give approval to or be in favor of; subscribe to; uphold
  3. to maintain or provide for (a person, institution, etc.) with money, or subsistence
  4. to show or tend to show to be true; help prove, vindicate, or corroborate: evidence to support a claim
  5. to bear; endure; submit to; tolerate
  6. to keep up; maintain; sustain; specif., to maintain (the price of a specified commodity) as by government purchase of surpluses
  7. Comput. to be compatible with
    see compatible (sense )
  8. Theater to act a subordinate role in the same play with (a specified star)

Origin: ME supporten < MFr supporter < LL(Ec) supportare, to endure, bear < L, to carry, bring to a place < sub-, sub- + portare, to carry: see port

noun

  1. a supporting or being supported
  2. a person or thing that supports; specif.,
    1. a prop, base, brace, etc.
    2. a means of subsistence
    3. an elastic, girdlelike device to support or bind a part of the body
    4. maintenance and service, as for a computer system's software or hardware: technical support

adjective

providing or having to do with support: support staff for a company's computer system

Related Forms:

See support in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb sup·port·ed, sup·port·ing, sup·ports
  1. To bear the weight of, especially from below.
  2. To hold in position so as to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping.
  3. To be capable of bearing; withstand: “His flaw'd heart . . . too weak the conflict to support” (Shakespeare).
  4. To keep from weakening or failing; strengthen: The letter supported him in his grief.
  5. To provide for or maintain, by supplying with money or necessities.
  6. To furnish corroborating evidence for: New facts supported her story.
  7. a. To aid the cause, policy, or interests of: supported her in her election campaign.
    b. To argue in favor of; advocate: supported lower taxes.
  8. To endure; tolerate: “At supper there was such a conflux of company that I could scarcely support the tumult” (Samuel Johnson).
  9. To act in a secondary or subordinate role to (a leading performer).
noun
  1. a. The act of supporting.
    b. The state of being supported.
  2. One that supports.
  3. Maintenance, as of a family, with the necessities of life.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English supporten

Origin: , from Old French supporter

Origin: , from Latin supportāre, to carry

Origin: : sub-, from below; see sub-

Origin: + portāre, to carry; see per-2 in Indo-European roots

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