a. To stay, tarry, abide, remain in a place: locus ubi nationum subsisterent legati, Varr. L. L. 5, § 155 Müll.: erimus ibi die dedicationis: subsistemus fortasse et sequenti, Plin. Ep. 4, 1, 6 : intra tecta (opp. in aperto vagari), id. ib. 6, 16, 15 : ut eā die domi subsisteret, orabat, Vell. 2, 57, 2 .--
b. Esp. (late Lat.), to remain alive, Dig. 34, 4, 30, § 3; Vulg. Job, 32, 22.--
c. To make a stand, i. e. to stand firm, hold out; to withstand, oppose, resist: nisi suffulcis firmiter, Non potes subsistere, Plaut. Ep. 1, 1, 78 : Hannibali atque ejus armis, Liv. 27, 7: clipeo juvenis, Verg. A. 9, 806 .--
(b). Of things: quod neque ancorae funesque subsisterent, neque, etc., stood, held out, Caes. B. G. 5, 10 .--
B. Trop.
1. In gen., to stop, halt, pause; to stay, continue, remain, subsist: subsistere (in dicendo), Quint. 4, 5, 20 ; Ov. M. 12, 147: subsistit omnis sententia, Quint. 8, 5, 27 : altius ibunt qui ad summa nitentur, quam qui circa ima substiterint, id. 1 , prooem. 20: intra priorem paupertatem subsistere, Tac. A. 12, 53 : equitum nomen subsistebat in turmis equorum publicorum, still remains or subsists only in, etc., Plin. 33, 1, 7, § 30: servum quoque et filium familias procuratorem posse habere aiunt: et quantum ad filium familias, verum est: in servo subsistimus, we pause, hesitate, are in doubt, Dig. 3, 3, 33 ; 12, 1, 32.--
2. In partic.
a. To stand still permanently, i. e. to come to a stop, to cease: substitit ut clamor pressus gravitate regentis, Ov. M. 1, 207 : ingeniumque meis substitit omne malis, id. H. 15, 196 : si nihil refert, brevis an longa sit ultima, idem pes erit; verum nescio quo modo sedebit hoc, illud subsistet, Quint. 9, 4, 94 .--
b. (Acc. to A. 2. c.) To stand, withstand, be adequate to, sustain, support a thing: non si Varronis thesauros haberem, subsistere sumptui possem, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 10, 5: tantis periclis, Claud. ap. Eutr. 2, 368: liti, Dig. 21, 2, 62, § 1 .--
c. To stand by, support any one (Appuleian): meis extremis aerumnis subsiste, App. M. 11, p. 257, 39 ; so id. ib. 2, p. 126, 23; 3, p. 139, 28; 5, p. 167, 9; 6, p. 174, 14. --
d. To stand or hold good, to subsist (late Lat.): non eo minus sententia adversus te latā juris ratione subsistit, Cod. Just. 2, 13, 14 ; 7, 2, 11.--
e. To withstand, make resistance: aut hanc esse veram religionem, cui ad vincendum tanta vis inest, aut illam falsam, quae subsistere non potest, Lact. 4, 27, 6 .--
II. Act. (acc. to I. A. 2. c.), to make a stand against, withstand, encounter any one (very rare): praepotentem armis Romanum subsistere, Liv. 9, 31 : feras, id. 1, 4 .