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’s outside of a maintenance support window, you’re going to need new devices unfortunately,” says Moussouris.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026
To fully avoid triggering rules about in-kind support and maintenance, your son’s rent must be at or near fair market value.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 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
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
He was the maintenance man for our apartment complex.
From "Free Lunch" by Rex Ogle
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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