sustainer

Noun

sustainer (plural sustainers)

1. A person or thing that sustains.
   • […] But thy selfe, hast a sustainer bene
     Of much affliction in my cause: […]c. 1611, George Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer, London: Nathaniell Butter, Book 23, p. 320
   • […] not One in Fifty, of our Men of Fashion, or of Quality, as they call themselves, has an Understanding that is able to go alone. They are forc’d, therefore, to wait ’till they have their Sustainer’s Opinion to lean against, before they dare venture upon the Praise, even of what they are...1724, Aaron Hill and William Bond, The Plain Dealer, No. 36, 24 July, 1724, London: S. Richardson & A. Wilde, p. 296
2. A rocket engine that remains with a spacecraft during its ascent after the separation of the booster engines.
3. (US) A person who makes regular donations, especially to a public radio or television station.
4. (US, obsolete) A radio program without a commercial sponsor.
   • 21st time this year a sponsor gave the nod to a sustainer: from now on Let’s Pretend, a CBS sustainer for 13 years, will pretend for Cream of Wheat.1943 September 6, “Wallflowers Join the Dance”, in Time, archived from the original on 26 Aug 2013