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.
Routine maintenance may have to wait until a lasting truce emerges and demining can take place.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
Combined with savings on fuel costs and maintenance, buying just enough EV can make going electric the smarter financial choice.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
This week, Robinson received an email from the university, which the BBC has seen, saying the SLC had recently decided the course didn't qualify for maintenance loans.
From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026
The monthly fee, similar to a condo’s HOA fee, covers things like maintenance services, dining, utilities and access to campus amenities like the fitness center and indoor swimming pool.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
Just a maintenance tech here, folks, heading home after a long night of rebooting routers.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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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