surviving

adjective

sur·​viv·​ing sər-ˈvī-viŋ 

1

: still living after another or others have died or died out

three surviving siblings

Today, there is no limit to the quantity of property that can be transferred from one spouse to another without Federal gift or estate tax, either during life or at death, provided that the surviving spouse is a citizen.

—William D. Zabel

Our closest living relatives are three surviving species of great ape: the gorilla, the common chimpanzee, and the pygmy chimpanzee (also known as bonobo).

—Jared Diamond

2

: remaining after another or others have ceased existence, operation, or use

Among the most important surviving documents for any discussion of Tucker porcelain are two hand-drawn books in the library of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

—Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen

All of its assets and liabilities, including legal rights and duties, are absorbed by the surviving corporation.

—Robert Charles Clark

In Dallas, Terry Elkins, the campaign manager for Max Goldblatt, who in 1985 ran for mayor, came to believe, on the basis of a months-long study of the surviving records and materials of the election, that Goldblatt had been kept out of a runoff by manipulation of the computerized voting system.

—Ronnie Dugger

Word History

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 1