maintain
to keep in an appropriate condition, operation, or force; keep unimpaired: to maintain order; to maintain public highways.
to keep in a specified state, position, etc.: to maintain a correct posture; to maintain good health.
to support in speech or argument, as a statement or proposition.
to keep or hold against attack: to maintain one's ground.
to provide for the upkeep or support of; carry the expenses of: to maintain a family.
to sustain or support: not enough water to maintain life.
Origin of maintain
1synonym study For maintain
Other words for maintain
Opposites for maintain
Other words from maintain
- main·tain·a·ble, adjective
- main·tain·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- main·tain·er, noun
- pre·main·tain, verb (used with object)
- self-main·tained, adjective
- self-main·tain·ing, adjective
- un·der·main·tain, verb (used with object)
- un·der·main·tained, adjective
- un·main·tain·a·ble, adjective
- un·main·tained, adjective
- well-main·tained, adjective
Words Nearby maintain
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use maintain in a sentence
Because I wrote a book years ago about the Army-Navy football rivalry and have maintained connections with many from the two schools, I know a lot of veterans.
Mark Cuban had the right idea: It’s time to rethink how we use the national anthem | John Feinstein | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostThey are institutions built to hold and maintain power for a political group.
What happens to an entrenched two-party system when one party undermines the system? | Philip Bump | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostOne method of maintaining a connection to the person, product or brand that is the target of a boycott is called “moral decoupling.”
MyPillow boycott: How a product can spark an identity crisis | Elizabeth Chang | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostThose statements conflict with the union’s efforts to work with the NBA on a scaled-down event, in hopes of salvaging television revenue and maintaining productive relationships with the owners and media partners.
The NBA’s week of controversies show how hard life is outside of the bubble | Ben Golliver | February 12, 2021 | Washington PostShallal said the Anacostia Busboys and Poets has maintained more revenue during the pandemic than any of the restaurant’s other locations.
Busboys and Poets to launch ‘streatery’ east of the Anacostia River | Michael Brice-Saddler | February 12, 2021 | Washington Post
Models in Israel will have to maintain a BMI of 18.5 or higher if they want to stay employed.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models | Carrie Arnold | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThey were just way too aggressive to try and maintain on a farm here,” says Gow of his “Nazi cows.
While not all 86 million maintain positions of governance or public service, the Party's machinery runs on watchmaker precision.
There was really only one good reason to maintain the embargo: Trade with Cuba strengthens the Castros.
But if the goal is to maintain any hope—grim as it is— for serious negotiations leading to a two state solution.
Why We Should Delay The Israel-Palestinian Peace Process | Aaron David Miller | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe dormant accounts most of the banks maintain with the reserve bank are, perhaps, indicative of their attitude toward it.
Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur PhillipsI always maintain that our women are of immense service to us, but many of them are physically unfit.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonBut in one respect the currency notes helped to maintain the country's gold standard.
Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur PhillipsMy own opportunities have been very limited, yet so far as they go they tend to maintain the justice of this remark.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyNot one of the early electric actions proved either quick or reliable, and all were costly to install and maintain.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing Miller
British Dictionary definitions for maintain
/ (meɪnˈteɪn) /
to continue or retain; keep in existence
to keep in proper or good condition: to maintain a building
to support a style of living: the money maintained us for a month
(takes a clause as object) to state or assert: he maintained that Talbot was wrong
to defend against contradiction; uphold: she maintained her innocence
to defend against physical attack
Origin of maintain
1Derived forms of maintain
- maintainable, adjective
- maintainer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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