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say it: suh-PAWRT
support is a noun and verb meaning "the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities". It is pronounced /səˈpɔɹt/ — suh-PAWRT. It carries 22 recorded senses.
the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities
“his support kept the family together”
“they gave him emotional support during difficult times”
aiding the cause or policy or interests of
“the president no longer has the support of his own party”
“they developed a scheme of mutual support”
a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission
“they called for artillery support”
military
documentary validation
“his documentation of the results was excellent”
“the strongest support for this view is the work of Jones”
the financial means whereby one lives
“each child was expected to pay for their keep”
“he applied to the state for support”
“he could no longer earn his own livelihood”
supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation
“the statue stood on a marble support”
the act of bearing the weight of or strengthening
“he leaned against the wall for support”
a musical part (vocal or instrumental) that supports or provides background for other musical parts
financial resources provided to make some project possible
“the foundation provided support for the experiment”
establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts
“his story confirmed my doubts”
“The evidence supports the defendant”
support with evidence or authority or make more certain or confirm
“The stories and claims were born out by the evidence”
play a subordinate role to (another performer)
“Olivier supported Gielgud beautifully in the second act”
dramaturgy
be a regular customer or client of
“We patronize this store”
“Our sponsor kept our art studio going for as long as he could”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for support come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.