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.
In response, the college cut supplies, maintenance, travel, meals and offered incentives for employees to leave, the school paper reported.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Enrollment declines opened the door to maintenance staff layoffs, giving the invasive shrub the upper hand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
More than 20,000 students have been told they were given maintenance loans and grants in error and now face demands to immediately pay the money back.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
By comparison, $125 million was “a bargain for the county,” said Govan, “Because they had the liability of ownership of those buildings and the deferred maintenance was extraordinary.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
With nothing to really aspire to, life had become about maintenance.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
