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.
Guests whose reservations were canceled were given false explanations such as plumbing or maintenance problems, or were sent to alternate rental locations.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
About 22,000 students in England are caught up in the dispute, after being sent letters saying they were given maintenance loans and childcare grants in error and must immediately pay the money back.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
A note from one of the investment bank’s analysts highlights the airline’s ability to accelerate the retirement of older planes, which use more fuel and require more maintenance.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
If you look at the paperwork, you will see — somewhere — that your storage fees are included in the bill for your maintenance.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
In the months that followed the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, when other reactors around Japan went offline for maintenance, the government withheld approval for them to reactivate.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
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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