a. [f. prec. + -ABLE. Cf. SUSTENABLE.]
† 1. Capable of being borne or endured; supportable, bearable. Obs. rare.
1611. Cotgr., Soustenable, sustainable,… abideable.
2. Capable of being upheld or defended; maintainable.
1845–6. De Quincey, Gilfillan’s Lit. Portr., Wks. 1859, XII. 304. From the verdict of a jury,… no candid and temperate man will allow himself to believe any appeal sustainable.
1857. Toulmin Smith, Parish, 130. It is the duty of the constable to apprehend offenders taken in the fact, or on sustainable presumption.
1875. N. Amer. Rev., CXX. 463. Religion may be morally useful without being intellectually sustainable.
1884. Law Rep., 27 Chanc. Div. 69. The Defendant has taken several technical objections to the order, none of which … are sustainable.
