subsistence

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond described his childhood subsistence on food stamps, free school lunches and surplus government cheese.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2026

Greenland's 57,000-strong population -- nearly 90 percent indigenous Inuit people -- has long traditions of hunting and fishing as the primary means of subsistence.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

In the South, entire families worked long hours for subsistence wages in company-owned villages.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

Together, these remains point to a balanced subsistence strategy that combined fishing, hunting, gathering, and farming.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2025

By the end of the first millennium a.d., agriculture was spreading rapidly and the region was becoming an unusual patchwork of communities, each with its preferred terrain, way of subsistence, and cultural style.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann