noun
1 state of existing
ADJECTIVE
▪ actual , real
▪
El Cid's actual ~ is not in doubt.
▪
Since her illness, other people had no real ~ for her.
▪ possible
▪
the possible ~ of life beyond Earth
▪ brief
▪ continued , continuing , future
▪ 10-year , 50-year , etc.
▪
over the course of his company's 20-year ~
▪ very
▪
The peasants depend on a good harvest for their very ~ (= in order to continue to live) .
▪ mere
▪
The mere ~ of these strange creatures fascinated him.
▪ entire , whole
▪
Throughout its entire ~, it has been a deeply contested concept.
▪ autonomous , independent , separate
▪
any organism capable of independent ~
▪ human
▪
the mystery of human ~
▪ material , physical
▪ social
▪ earthly , mortal
▪
Christianity taught that our earthly ~ was merely a preparation for life after death.
VERB + EXISTENCE
▪ be in
▪
The idea has been in ~ for centuries.
▪ have
▪
a virtual world that has no real ~
▪ come into , pop into ( AmE , informal ), spring into
▪
The organization came into ~ ten years ago.
▪
What are the chances of these molecules springing spontaneously into ~?
▪ fade from , fade out of , go out of
▪
There was a fear that the club might go out of ~ for lack of support.
▪ bring sth into , call sth into
▪
They are striving to bring into ~ a new kind of society.
▪ be aware of , know of
▪ be unaware of
▪ affirm , assert
▪ assume , posit , postulate , presuppose
▪
The theory assumes the ~ of a ‘meritocracy’—that there is equal opportunity for all.
▪ accept , acknowledge , admit , admit to , believe in , recognize
▪
He didn't believe in the ~ of God.
▪ deny
▪ doubt
▪ question
▪
She questioned the ~ of God.
▪ imply , indicate , suggest , support
▪
There is research that strongly supports the ~ of repressed memories.
▪ discover , reveal
▪ confirm , demonstrate , establish , prove , validate , verify
▪
Scientists were able to verify the ~ of this particle.
▪ disprove
▪ explain
▪
How do you explain the ~ of closely related species in widely separated locations?
▪ justify
▪ forget , ignore
▪
The girl's parents continued to ignore her very ~.
▪ endanger , jeopardize , threaten
▪
Climate changes threaten the continued ~ of the species.
▪ end
▪
He wanted to end his ~ once and for all.
▪ owe
▪
The school owed its ~ to the generosity of one man.
▪ ensure , guarantee
▪ maintain
▪
Let's battle on to maintain our ~.
▪ be vital to
▪
A super-efficient sense of smell is no longer vital to our ~.
EXISTENCE + VERB
▪ depend on sth , depend upon sth
▪
The company's ~ depends on continued growth.
PREPOSITION
▪ in ~
▪
the only instrument of its kind in ~
PHRASES
▪ the struggle for ~
▪
Darwin viewed the struggle for ~ as being the major promoter of evolution.
2 way of living
ADJECTIVE
▪ bare , hand-to-mouth , meagre/meager , miserable , precarious
▪
He lived a hand-to-mouth ~ in the less attractive areas of London.
▪ comfortable , peaceful , quiet
▪ sheltered
▪
She had lived such a sheltered ~.
▪ middle-class
▪
a comfortable middle-class ~
▪ meaningful
▪
his yearning for a more meaningful ~
▪ boring , dull , humdrum , mundane
▪ pathetic , pitiful , wretched
▪ meaningless
▪ empty , isolated , lonely , solitary
▪ nomadic
▪ rural , suburban , urban
▪ daily , day-to-day , everyday
▪ previous , prior
▪
He claimed to be able to remember a previous ~.
VERB + EXISTENCE
▪ enjoy , have , lead , live
▪ eke out , endure
▪
They eke out a precarious ~ foraging in the forest.
PHRASES
▪ a mode of ~
▪
the transition from one mode of ~ to another