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.
“You’re not just buying an older home, you’re buying a maintenance schedule,” said Brian Werner, a financial planner in Pittsburgh.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
The extent of maintenance and modernization needs is vast, and the cost of doing it is going up fast.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
Postponing refinery maintenance, using strategic reserves, and reducing consumption appear to be the only other ways to partially address the imbalance, she said.
From Barron's • Apr. 4, 2026
The operator said its network was "critical" last weekend, after a series of issues left four ferries needing repairs while four others were under annual maintenance.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Time was unorganized except for the communal work, field labor, gardening, woodcutting, maintenance, for which transients such as myself were called on by whatever group most needed a hand.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.
