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Definitions

maintain

[mayn-tayn] / meɪnˈteɪn /




Usage

What are other ways to say maintain? To maintain is to support so as to preserve intact: to maintain an attitude of defiance. To support is to hold up or add strength to, literally or figuratively: The columns support the roof. To sustain, a rather elevated word, suggests completeness and adequacy in supporting: The court sustained his claim. Uphold applies especially to supporting or backing another, as in a statement, opinion, or belief: to uphold the rights of a minority.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Sure, that’s in part to maintain a competitive edge in an ever-techified entertainment industry.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

If you plan to maintain a banking relationship in the United States, federal law requires you to provide a physical address to prove your identity.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

As this protective regulation weakens, DEAF1 can increase, driving mTORC1 activity higher and further disrupting the processes needed to maintain muscle health.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

The two companies representing Prince's interests in the DRC, Vectus Global and Quantum Global Consulting, maintain a presence in the national capital Kinshasa, but their executives keep a low profile.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

But they do not know how, and are unable, to maintain their position.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

In this role, ETS maintains student demographic, test participation and assessment data.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

He spent some evenings going over it, then consulted Japanese patent engineer Satoshi Tomokiyo, who maintains an online list of unsolved ciphers, to verify it.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

The nonprofit Medicare Rights Center maintains a national hotline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

DBS maintains its buy rating and 7,500 rupiah target price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

She maintains that Lopsang hauled her up the slope very much against her wishes.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Kim maintained a hiring pause, stopped merit raises and took “a hard look at a lot of our administrative expenses and our operations,” he told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Finding similar effects in both fruit flies and mice suggests that DEAF1 participates in an evolutionarily conserved system, meaning the underlying biological function has been maintained across species over long periods of evolution.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Still, the company maintained output guidance of 5.1 million-5.6 million lbs of U3O8 in FY27.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Stella maintained his usual calm, even demeanour, but words like "unacceptable", "disappointed" and "serious" made it abundantly clear how angry he was.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Local police acknowledged that no significant level of violence was associated with crack in Seattle and that other drugs were causing more hospitalizations, but steadfastly maintained that their deployment decisions were nondiscriminatory.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

If Microsoft can deliver the same useful service for less while maintaining prices, it retains more revenue after delivery expenses.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Is it based on colonial standards? Or is it based on maintaining our cultural richness and our legacy, that is handed down to us regardless of where we are?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

To protect margins, many Western brands have opted out of entering the discount war and are instead maintaining their pricing, but this is hitting sales volumes in the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

For aging populations, including Singapore's, maintaining muscle health is especially important.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

At the time of Anna’s murder, the Osage County sheriff, who carried the bulk of responsibility for maintaining law and order in the area, was a fifty-eight-year-old, three-hundred-pound frontiersman named Harve M. Freas.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann


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