maintenance

main·te·nance

noun \ˈmānt-nən(t)s, ˈmān-tə-nən(t)s\

Definition of MAINTENANCE

1

: the act of maintaining : the state of being maintained : support

2

: something that maintains

3

: the upkeep of property or equipment

4

: an officious or unlawful intermeddling in a legal suit by assisting either party with means to carry it on

Examples of MAINTENANCE

1. The building has suffered from years of poor maintenance.
2. the costs of routine car maintenance
3. maintenance of law and order
4. money for the family's maintenance
5. Soon he could take an Underwood apart and put it together blindfolded, a trick that won him the account for maintenance of all the typewriters at Columbia-Presbyterian hospital … —Ian Frazier, Atlantic, November 1997
6. The new machine made the sharecropper system that had replaced slavery obsolete, and the maintenance of segregation and terror unnecessary. —C. Vann Woodward, New York Times Book Review, 24 Feb. 1991
7. But the apartments they actually leased sat directly across Wayne Avenue—minus the gardens and the careful maintenance that existed when white families had lived there. —Gloria Naylor, Linden Hills, 1985

Origin of MAINTENANCE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from maintenir (see maintain)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to MAINTENANCE

Synonyms: care and feeding, conservation, conserving, keep, preservation, preserving, sustentation, upkeep

Related Words: conservancy; support, sustaining; care, custody, guardianship; defense, guarding, protection, safeguarding, safekeeping

Near Antonyms: dereliction, disregard, ignoring, inattention, neglect, negligence; damage, demolition, destruction, harm, hurt, injury, ruin, ruination

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