survive


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survive the test of time

1. To work, function, or endure for a very long time. (A less common variant of "stand/withstand the test of time.") As computer technology improves, it's ironically getting harder and harder to find a piece of equipment that can survive the test of time.
2. To be particularly popular or well regarded for a long period of time. Of all the other cast members, hers was the only career that survived the test of time.
See also: of, survive, test, time

no plan survives contact with the enemy

Military plans always need to be changed once they are enacted in real-life military situations. The saying emphasizes the need for flexibility, as opposed to strict adherence to strategy. It is attributed to Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, a 19th-century Prussian field marshal. Men, be ready to make changes on the battlefield—we all know that no plan survives contact with the enemy.
See also: contact, enemy, no, plan, survive
References in periodicals archive ?
Sinclair said this implies that the main adaptations required to survive freezing are at the cellular or biochemical level, rather than because of fundamental structural differences.
Why some insects can survive freezing, while others cannot
Session dates are: Junior Roadwise, Tuesday, 10am-3pm; Cycle and Survive, Wednesday and Sunday, June 3, 10am to 4pm; Ride and Survive, Thursday, 10am-4pm; Drive and Survive, Friday and Sunday, June 10, 10am to 4pm.
Youngsters put behind the wheel; AVENGERS MINI IS PART OF DRIVING SCHEME
If the States accept the proposition that a mere reincorporation in another State does not result in a change of "taxpayer" so that the merged corporation's NOLs survive the merger, what happens if the facts are varied slightly?
State tax treatment of net operating loss carryovers in corporate acquisitions
International efforts are being made to conserve the historic artefacts and buildings that survive - and this help is needed urgently.
View from Kabul
Fossil evidence including the Aubesier jaw suggests that, beginning with Neandertals, social assistance of some kind enabled physically impaired individuals to survive longer than they could have in earlier species, such as Homo erectus, Rosenberg asserts.
Care-worn fossils: bones reopen controversy about ancient assistance
These traits, says Lindstedt, are examples of adaptations, characteristics that help an animal survive in its environment.
Life in the fast lane
His wife, Winifred Jane, son Kirk, daughter Tamara Maher, and six grandchildren survive him.
Retired NSOs die
They concluded in 1999 that some amino acids on kilometer-wide comets would indeed survive a direct hit to Earth's surface.
Cosmic Chemistry Gets Creative
However, if the grantor does not survive the trust term, the entire trust value is included in the estate and the unified credit is restored.
Recent developments in QPRTs and QTIPs
Cloth generally does not survive the ravages of time, as anyone can easily tell by looking at museum exhibits of Nineteenth Century clothing side-by-side with restored replicas.
Women's Work, The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
In northern Canadian forests, the red squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, survive winters thanks to caches of fir cones.
Squirrels save for the family's future
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