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.
Around 22,000 university students who were told they would have to urgently repay maintenance loans and childcare grants that were given to them in error have been given a reprieve.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
The government is seeking unspecified damages and to require the utility to develop an enhanced operations and maintenance plan for its sewer lines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
The tax would harm construction, brokerage, interior design, maintenance and high-end retail — real-estate related industries that support thousands of jobs.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026
There was a “very minor incident” on Monday where one slowly moving train bumped into another inside a maintenance and storage facility, Adams said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
Cade was athletic, smart, energetic, and high maintenance; Monica was quiet, brooding, and dissatisfied.
From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith
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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