survival

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The fact or act of surviving; continued existence or life.

   His survival in the open ocean was a miracle; he had fully expected to die.

2. 2
   noun

   Of, relating to or aiding survival.

   persecution survival plan

3. 3
   noun

   The avoidance of relegation or demotion to a lower league or division.

   […] a team that have turned snatching relegation from the jaws of top-flight survival into an art form […]

4. 4
   noun

   A custom or belief that persists in folklore from earlier times, when the rationale behind it is forgotten.

   Thus, if some old rhyme or saying has in one place a solemn import in philosophy or religion, while elsewhere it lies at the level of the nursery, there is some ground for treating the serious version as the more original, and the playful one as its mere lingering survival.

5. 5
   noun

   something that survives

6. 6
   noun

   a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment

7. 7
   noun

   a state of surviving

Etymology

From survive + -al.