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.
If it works in people, it could become more like a maintenance therapy, repeated at intervals to keep the eye's protective systems active.
From Science Daily • May 27, 2026
Their role is shifting from implementation to governance, from configuration to architecture, from maintenance to judgment.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
The local prosecutor has asked for tips about the plant’s operations and tank maintenance.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 24, 2026
She said she and her brother were forced to slash the asking price by £70,000 while continuing to pay rising maintenance charges, management fees and council tax on the empty property in Epsom.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
In consequence, even as visitor numbers have soared—from 79 million in 1960 to almost 270 million today—campsites and interpretation centers have been shut, warden numbers slashed, and essential maintenance deferred to a positively ludicrous degree.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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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