1. Give moral or psychological support, aid, or courage to
   "She supported him during the illness";
   - back up
    
2. Provide material help or money to cover living expenses
   "he does not support his natural children"; "The scholarship supported me when I was in college"
    
3. Be the physical support of; carry the weight of
   "He supported me with one hand while I balanced on the beam";
   - hold, sustain, hold up
    
4. Establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts
   "The evidence supports the defendant";
   - confirm, corroborate, sustain, substantiate, affirm
    
5. Actively promote or advocate for someone to take on a particular role
   "I supported Kennedy in 1960";
   - back, endorse, indorse [rare], plump for
    
6. Have agreement with or belief in an idea or cause
   "Many citizens supported the new environmental initiative";
   - subscribe
    
7. Argue or speak in defence of
   "She supported the motion to strike";
   - defend
    
8. Support or confirm with evidence or authority
   "The new findings support our initial hypothesis";
   - corroborate, underpin, bear out
    
9. Be a regular customer or client of
   "We support this store";
   - patronize, patronise [Brit], keep going
    
10. Play a subordinate role to (another performer)
    "Olivier supported Gielgud beautifully in the second act"
     
11. Put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    "She had to support her neighbour's loud music";
    - digest, endure, stick out, stomach, bear, stand, tolerate, brook, abide, suffer, put up

1. The activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities
   "his support kept the family together"; "they gave him emotional support during difficult times"
    
2. Aiding the cause, policy or interests of
   "the president no longer has the support of his own party"; "they developed a scheme of mutual support"
    
3. Something providing immaterial assistance to a person, cause or interest
   "the team enjoyed the support of their fans"; "the policy found little public support"; "his faith was all the support he needed"
    
4. The financial means whereby one lives
   "he applied to the state for support";
   - keep, livelihood, living, bread and butter, sustenance
    
5. Financial resources provided to make some project possible
   "the foundation provided support for the experiment";
   - financial support, funding, backing, financial backing, sponsorship
    
6. (military) a military operation (often involving new supplies of men and materiel) to strengthen a military force or aid in the performance of its mission
   "they called for artillery support";
   - reinforcement
    
7. Documentary validation
   "the strongest support for this view is the work of Jones";
   - documentation
    
8. Supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation
   "the statue stood on a marble support"
    
9. The act of bearing the weight of or strengthening
   "he leaned against the wall for support";
   - supporting
    
10. Any device that bears the weight of another thing
    "there was no place to attach supports for a shelf"
     
11. A musical part (vocal or instrumental) that supports or provides background for other musical parts
    "The piano provided a subtle musical support to the singer's performance";
    - accompaniment, musical accompaniment, backup

Derived forms: supports, supporting, supported

Type of: act, activity, agree, aid, allow, approve, argue, assist, assistance, check, concord, concur, correspond, countenance, device, fit, foster, gibe, give, greenlight, green-light, help, hold, influence, jibe, let, marry, marry up, match, military operation, move, nurture, O.K., OK, okay, op [informal], operation, part, permit, play, proof, reason, represent, resource, sanction, square, substantiation, supporting structure, tally, validation, voice

Encyclopedia: Support