Word.ws English Dictionary

support

Syllables: sup·port/səˈpɔːt//səˈpoɹt/

support verb: to help keep from falling. Also the clipping of support position.

Verb

support (third-person singular simple present supports, present participle supporting, simple past and past participle supported)

  1. (transitive) To help keep from falling.
    • Don’t move that beam! It supports the whole platform.
    • He staggered away from the accident site, supported by one friend on each side.
  2. (transitive) To back or favor a cause, party, etc., mentally or with concrete aid
    • I support France in the World Cup.
    Synonyms:
    adhere
    Antonyms:
    oppose
  3. (transitive) To provide sustenance or maintenance for; to sustain in integrity or livelihood.
    • Mars does not currently support human habitation.
    • A grain, which in England is generally given to horſes, but which in Scotland ſupports the people.1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Oats”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […], volume II (L–Z), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], →OCLC, column 1
  4. (transitive) To help, particularly financially; to subsidize.
    • The government supports the arts in several ways.
    • I said I shouldn’t support anything that deceives people.2020 April 14, “Beaten into a Coma for My Faith, Recovered Without Medical Treatment”, in Minghui
  5. (transitive) To provide evidence for; to lend credibility to.
    • The testimony is not sufficient to support the charges.
    • The evidence will not support the statements or allegations.
  6. (transitive) To serve, as in a customer-oriented position; to give support to.
    • The IT Department supports the research organization, but not the sales force.
  7. (transitive) To assist or be involved with, but not be responsible for.
    • I support the administrative activities of the executive branch of the organization.
    • I don't make decisions, but I support those who do.
  8. (transitive) To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold.
    • Sure they sell the product, but do they support it?
  9. (transitive, usually, hardware, programming languages) To be designed to provide capacity for; to work or be compatible with (a part, accessory, file type, program, algorithm, etc.).
    • Early personal computers did not support voice-recognition hardware or software.
    Synonyms:
    accommodate, enable, play, run
  10. (archaic, transitive) To endure without being overcome; bear; undergo; tolerate.
    • This fierce demeanour and his insolence / The patience of a god could not support.1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number)
    • For a strong affection such moments are worth supporting, and they will end well; for your advocate is in your lover's heart and speaks her own language[…]1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque
  11. (transitive) To play a lesser part in the same production with (a star performer).
    • to support the character of King Lear
    • And the award for best supporting actress goes to...

Noun

support (countable and uncountable, plural supports)

  1. (attributive, sometimes) Something which supports.
    • Don't move that beam! It's a support for the whole platform.
    Synonyms:
    sustentation
  2. Financial or other help.
    • The government provides support to the arts in several ways.
    • Kim was educated at the newly founded university in Pyongyang, named after his father, graduating in 1964. The 1960s and early 1970s were the golden years for the DPRK. It undertook rapid industrialisation, economically outstripped its southern competitor, and enjoyed the support of both the...2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian
  3. Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold.
    • Sure they sell the product, but do they provide support?
  4. in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero; the closure of that set.
    Antonyms:
    kernel
  5. (fuzzy set theory) A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero).
    • If the membership function of a fuzzy set is continuous, then that fuzzy set's support is an open set.
  6. (commutative algebra) The set of all prime ideals of R such that the localization of M at the prime is nonzero, denoted operatorname SuppM
  7. Evidence.
    • The new research provides further support for our theory.
  8. (hardware) Compatibility and functionality for a given product or feature.
    • This game has no mouse support.
  9. An actor playing a subordinate part with a star.
  10. An accompaniment in music.
  11. (structural analysis) Horizontal, vertical or rotational support of structures: movable, hinged, fixed.

Also used as

support is also the clipping of support position.

support meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

support in Hindi

to keep from falling
सहारा देना sahārā denā
something which supports
सहारा sahārā

support in Tamil

ஆதரவு, ஆதரவளித்தல், ஆதரவளிக்க

support in Marathi

पाठिंबा, पाठबळ, पाठबळ देणे

support in Urdu

something which supports
حِمَایَت himāyat, سَہارا sahārā
financial or other help
حِمَایَت himāyat
More languagesFewer languages
support in Bengali
সমর্থন, সমর্থন করা
support in Telugu
అండ aṇḍa
support in Malayalam
താങ്ങുക tāṅṅuka, പിന്തുണയ്ക്കുക pintuṇaykkuka, അനുകൂലിക്കുക anukūlikkuka, താങ്ങ് tāṅṅŭ
support in Kannada
ಬೆಂಬಲಿಸು bembalisu, ಬೆಂಬಲ bembala, ನೆರವು neravu
support in Punjabi
ਸਮਰਥਨ, ਸਮਰਥਨ ਕਰਨਾ, ਸਮਰਥਨ ਕਰੋ
support in Gujarati
ટેકો આપે છે, ટેકો આપવા
support in Odia
ସମର୍ଥନ, ସମର୍ଥନ କରନ୍ତୁ, ସମର୍ଥନ କରିବା
support in Sanskrit
यच्छति yacchati, धर्त्र dhartra
support in Nepali
समर्थन, समर्थन गर्ने, समर्थन गर्नुहोस्
support in Tagalog
suporta, pangsuporta, suhay, tukod
support in Arabic
دَعَمَ daʕama, دَعَّمَ daʕʕama, أَيَّدَ ʔayyada, تَأْيِيد taʔyīd
support in Malay
sokong, sokongan
support in Indonesian
menyangga, menopang, mendukung, menunjang
support in Thai
หนุน nǔn, สนับสนุน sà-nàp-sà-nǔn, ค้ำ kám
support in Vietnamese
chống, ủng hộ, hỗ trợ, tài trợ

Examples of support in a sentence

  • There is a soft-mat seat (which originally had a palm fiber underwebbing) supported by three curved transverse braces.1995, Nancy Berliner, Sarah Handler, Friends of the House, →ISBN, page 79:
  • One of the keys to glassing effectively is supporting your binoculars.2000, Field & Stream, volume 105, number 6, page 87:
  • The NIAID supports projects at universities and research organizations around the United States as well as a network of 21 NIAID labs across the country.2023 August 2, Ben Tinker, Meg Tirrell and Brenda Goodman, “New director named at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases...
  • to urge such arguments, as though they were sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will:

All 40 example sentences with support

Synonyms of support

25 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of support

Forms of support

Verb
third-person singular presentsupports
present participlesupporting
past participlesupported
pastsupported
second-person singular present (archaic)supportest
second-person singular past (archaic)supportedst
third-person singular present (archaic)supporteth
Noun
pluralsupports

Past tense of support: supported

Plural of support: supports

Origin of support

From Middle English supporten, from Old French supporter, from Latin supportō.

From Middle English support, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French support. Displaced Old English wraþu.

Words formed from support

Phrases with support

9 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with support

44 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about support

What does support mean?
Support means to help keep from falling.
What is support in Hindi?
Support in Hindi is सहारा देना (sahārā denā), सहारा (sahārā). See Support meaning in Hindi.
How do you use support in a sentence?
There is a soft-mat seat (which originally had a palm fiber underwebbing) supported by three curved transverse braces.
What part of speech is support?
Support can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce support?
Support is pronounced /səˈpɔːt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of support?
The past tense of support is supported.

Words near support in the dictionary

  1. supplyment
  2. supplyments
  3. supplì
  4. supplì al telefono
  5. supponent
  6. support
  7. support act
  8. support acts
  9. support bubble
  10. support bubbles
  11. support dog

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: support (page history and authors); support (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); support (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-support.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-support.wav.

Cite this entry: “support.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/support. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.