Retain vs. Sustain — What's the Difference?

To keep possession of; continue to have

Strengthen or support physically or mentally

To keep in a particular place or condition

Undergo or suffer (something unpleasant, especially an injury)

To continue to have as a feature or aspect

Cause to continue for an extended period or without interruption

To keep in mind; remember

Uphold, affirm, or confirm the justice or validity of

To require (a student) to repeat a class or grade because of insufficient educational progress to advance.

An effect or facility on a keyboard or electronic instrument whereby a note can be sustained after the key is released.

To keep in one's service or pay

To keep in existence; maintain, continue, or prolong

To hire (an attorney, for example) by the payment of a fee.

To keep up (a joke or assumed role, for example) competently.

To hire a person for (that person's services)

To supply with necessities or nourishment; provide for

(transitive) To keep in possession or use.

To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage

(transitive) To keep in one's pay or service.

To support from below; keep from falling or sinking; prop

(transitive) To employ by paying a retainer.

To bear up under; withstand

(transitive) To hold secure.

To experience or suffer

To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year.

To affirm the validity of

(obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.

A capacity of a musical instrument to continue the resounding of a note or tone.

To belong; to pertain.

(transitive) To maintain, or keep in existence.

To continue to hold; to keep in possession; not to lose, part with, or dismiss; to restrain from departure, escape, or the like.

(transitive) To provide for or nourish.

To keep in pay; to employ by a preliminary fee paid; to hire; to engage; as, to retain a counselor.

(transitive) To encourage or sanction (something). en

To restrain; to prevent.

(transitive) To experience or suffer (an injury, etc.).

To belong; to pertain.

(transitive) To confirm, prove, or corroborate; to uphold.

To keep; to continue; to remain.

To allow, accept, or admit (e.g. an objection or motion) as valid.

Hold within;

To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support.

Allow to remain in a place or position;

To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate.

Secure and keep for possible future use or application;

(music) A mechanism which can be used to hold a note, as the right pedal on a piano.

Keep in one's mind;

To keep from falling; to bear; to uphold; to support; as, a foundation sustains the superstructure; a beast sustains a load; a rope sustains a weight.

Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support.

To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army.

To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate.

To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment.

To suffer; to bear; to undergo.

To allow the prosecution of; to admit as valid; to sanction; to continue; not to dismiss or abate; as, the court sustained the action or suit.

To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition.

One who, or that which, upholds or sustains; a sustainer.

Lengthen or extend in duration or space;

Undergo (as of injuries and illnesses);

Provide with nourishment;

Supply with necessities and support;

Be the physical support of; carry the weight of;

Admit as valid;

Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts;