maintenance
Usage
What are other ways to say maintenance?
Generally, maintenance refers to care or upkeep, as of machinery or property. But sometimes, maintenance refers to what is spent for the living of another: to provide for the maintenance or support of someone. Maintenance occasionally refers to the allowance itself provided for livelihood: They are entitled to a maintenance from this estate. Living and livelihood (a somewhat more formal word), both refer to what one earns to keep (oneself) alive, but are seldom interchangeable within the same phrase: to earn one's living; to threaten one's livelihood. “To make a living” suggests making just enough to keep alive, and is particularly frequent in the negative: You cannot make a living out of that. “To make a livelihood out of something” suggests rather making a business of it: to make a livelihood out of knitting hats.
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.
Included in the guidance is an additional $30 million in costs for an extended maintenance shutdown at its solar wafer facility, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
The uptick comes as the ongoing costs of car ownership, from insurance to maintenance to gas, have been on the rise.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026
There have also been improvements to the course's internal road system to provide better access and for routine maintenance.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
“Secretary Burgum has been clear that resources should be prioritized toward visitor-facing services, public safety, maintenance, and projects that improve the experience for the American people,” an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026
I followed, and we tucked ourselves into the tiny maintenance bay we’d used the last time we were almost caught by security.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Vocabulary lists containing maintenance
Freak the Mighty
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Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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