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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sustain \Sus*tain"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Sustained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sustaining}.] [OE. sustenen, susteinen, OF. sustenir, sostenir, F. soutenir (the French prefix is properly fr. L. subtus below, fr. sub under), L. sustinere; pref. sus- (see {Sub-}) + tenere to hold. See {Tenable}, and cf. {Sustenance}.]
1. 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.
Every pillar the temple to sustain. --Chaucer.
2. Hence, to keep from sinking, as in despondence, or the like; to support.
No comfortable expectations of another life to sustain him under the evils in this world. --Tillotson.
3. To maintain; to keep alive; to support; to subsist; to nourish; as, provisions to sustain an army.
4. To aid, comfort, or relieve; to vindicate. --Shak.
His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain. --Dryden.
5. To endure without failing or yielding; to bear up under; as, to sustain defeat and disappointment.
6. To suffer; to bear; to undergo.
Shall Turnus, then, such endless toil sustain? --Dryden.
You shall sustain more new disgraces. --Shak.
7. 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.
8. To prove; to establish by evidence; to corroborate or confirm; to be conclusive of; as, to sustain a charge, an accusation, or a proposition.
Syn: To support; uphold; subsist; assist; relieve; suffer; undergo.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sustained \Sus*tained"\, adjective Held up to a certain pitch, degree, or level; uniform; as, sustained pasion; a sustained style of writing; a sustained note in music.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
sustained
adjective
1: maintained at length without interruption or weakening; "sustained flight"
2: (of an electric arc) continuous; "heat transfer to the anode in free burning arcs" [syn: {free burning}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
86 Moby Thesaurus words for "sustained": abiding, based on, bolstered, borne, braced, buttressed, ceaseless, changeless, chattering, constant, continual, continued, continuing, continuous, durable, enduring, even, firm, fixed, founded on, frozen, grounded on, guyed, held, immobile, immutable, incessant, indefatigable, intact, interminable, inviolate, lasting, level, machine gun, maintained, oscillating, perennial, permanent, perpetual, persistent, prolonged, propped, pulsating, quiescent, rapid, regular, remaining, repeated, rigid, shored up, solid, stable, staccato, static, stationary, stayed, staying, steadfast, steady, sticking, stuttering, supported, torpid, unaltered, unbroken, unceasing, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unchecked, undestroyed, undying, unfading, unfailing, uniform, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unremitting, unshifting, unstopped, unvaried, unvarying, upheld, vibrating
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