Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - survive

~ v 1 to not die in an accident or war or from an illness  (Only 12 of the 140 passengers survived. | survive sth)  (There are concerns that the refugees may not survive the winter.) 2 to continue to exist in spite of many difficulties and dangers  (A few pages of the original manuscript still survive.) 3 often spoken to continue to live normally and not be too upset by your problems  (I don't think I could survive another year as a teacher; it's just too stressful. | "How are you?" "Oh, surviving!") 4 survive on to continue to live a normal life even though you have very little money  (I don't know how you all manage to survive on Jeremy's salary.) 5 to live longer than someone else, usually someone closely related to you  (Harry survived his wife by three months.)