Meaning of exist in English

exist

verb [ I ]

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/ɪɡˈzɪst/ us

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/ɪɡˈzɪst/

exist verb [I] (BE)

to be, or to be real:

I don't think ghosts exist.

Poverty still exists in this country.

More examples

It's in the poorer, underdeveloped eastern region of the country that the biggest problems exist.
The English king, Arthur, is a somewhat shadowy figure who may not have even existed.
Slavery still exists in many parts of the world.
Laws exist to stop companies exploiting their employees.
A special closeness is supposed to exist between twins.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Existing and being

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Life and living

exist verb [I] (LIVE)

to live, or to live in difficult conditions:

Some species exist in this small area of forest and nowhere else on earth.

Few people can exist without water for more than a week.

No one can be expected to exist on such a low salary.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Existing and being

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Living or sleeping somewhere

Life and living

(Definition of exist from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

exist | American Dictionary

exist

verb [ I ]

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/ɪɡˈzɪst/

exist verb [I] (TO BE)

to be; have the ability to be known, recognized, or understood:

Can the mind exist independently of the body?

Programs like Medicaid for the poor did not exist at that time.

exist verb [I] (BE PRESENT)

to be present or be a condition:

Your local agency can tell you if a similar program exists in your community.

exist verb [I] (LIVE)

to be able to live:

No one can be expected to exist on such a low salary.

(Definition of exist from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of exist

exist

To the extent that anyone has a reason to participate, the reason must partly depend on the fact that the practice actually exists.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A close reading of existing literature on political reform, development and multiculturalism also suggests cause for scepticism about the dawning of the ' postmulticultural ' era.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

More examples Fewer examples

My characterization and justification of a state's duties regarding human rights as special does not preclude criticism of the existing international legal order.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The opportunities for democratic participation existed, but the structure of rural society was such that it could not profit from them.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Do they cut back on existing services (if this is politically feasible)?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

At a future point, the perspective could be expanded to other developed and developing countries under the auspices of existing international governmental organizations.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If we assume that the work exists, how do we increase the resources needed to deal with it?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

On the one hand, it may build on existing institutional patterns.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Other researchers and software development companies are working on the production of agent-specific design and coding tools or the extension of existing ones.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Setting a standard is thus very far from reifying existing measures.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, the new coding should, prospectively, vastly improve the range and flexibility of existing categories.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Making use of panel data allows us to contribute to existing controversies about the role of social class more generally.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Finally, cases covered by existing commercial policy rules are exempted from the scope of the regulation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Patterns or rules are usually more interesting if they cannot be predicted from existing knowledge.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The interesting thing about it is that, while it may contain a proof, it itself exists as a program.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of exist

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Translations of exist

in Chinese (Traditional)

存在, 實際上有, 生存…

Meaning of exist in English

exist verb [I] (BE)

exist verb [I] (LIVE)

exist | American Dictionary

exist verb [I] (TO BE)

exist verb [I] (BE PRESENT)

exist verb [I] (LIVE)

Examples of exist

Translations of exist

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