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Survive vs Perish - What's the difference?

survive | perish |

In lang=en terms the difference between survive and perish

is that survive is to live past a life-threatening event while perish is to die; to cease to live.

As verbs the difference between survive and perish

is that survive is of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive while perish is to pass away; to come to naught; to waste away; to decay and disappear.

survive

English

Verb

(surviv)
  • Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
  • Of an object or concept, to continue to exist.
  • To live longer than; to outlive.
  • His children survived''' him; he was '''survived by his children.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I'll assure her of / Her widowhood, be it that she survive me, / In all my lands and leases whatsoever.
  • * 1817 , (Walter Scott), Rob Roy , X:
  • ‘I am afraid, as will happen in other cases, the treaty of alliance has survived the amicable dispositions in which it had its origin.’
  • To live past a life-threatening event.
  • He did not survive the accident.
  • (sports) Of a team, to avoid relegation or demotion to a lower division or league.
  • Synonyms

    * (l) * (live longer than) outlive

    Antonyms

    * (live longer than) predecease

    Anagrams

    * ----

    perish

    English

    Verb

    (es)
  • To pass away; to come to naught; to waste away; to decay and disappear.
  • To die; to cease to live.
  • * 1719 ,
  • ...the ship struck upon a sand, and ... the sea broke over her in such a manner that we expected we should all have perished immediately; and we were immediately driven into our close quarters, to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea.
  • (obsolete) To cause to perish.
  • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * decease, pass away * See also

    Derived terms

    * perish the thought

    Anagrams

    *