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.
A nine-month cosmetology program in New Jersey, for instance, costs $17,000 while a 14-month aircraft maintenance program in Florida costs $40,000, according to a college affordability list maintained by the Education Department.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Cutbacks in travel in the Middle East hit the company's maintenance business.
From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026
This would harm construction, brokerage, interior design, maintenance and high-end retail — real-estate-related industries that support thousands of jobs — undermining NYC’s status as a global wealth hub.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 18, 2026
The nuclear plant itself needs constant monitoring and maintenance.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
“No, I get it. History doesn’t care about maintenance men who work in apartment buildings or single moms who work three jobs. They’re just . . . what? Blips.”
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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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