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.
William Lam and the design team rejected approaches that would have produced glare, maintenance headaches, or visual banding that chopped the vault into pieces.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Rail bosses hope the £23m electrification upgrade project can ultimately improve train reliability and reduce the number of power failures and maintenance closures inside the Severn Tunnel .
From BBC • May 22, 2026
AFP spoke to foreign attendees from the European Union, the Middle East and Southeast Asia on Thursday, drawn to Shenzhen's prowess for everything from infrastructure maintenance and aerial monitoring to racing events.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
“These persistent problems highlight the need for sustained investment and maintenance to improve the area’s environmental health,” the report states.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
I wasn’t about to ask him why he didn’t just ask the maintenance guys to check.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
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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