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.
Guests whose reservations were canceled were given false explanations such as plumbing or maintenance problems, or were sent to alternate rental locations.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
Henry Tufnell, one of the committee's MPs, said SEW was "not doing the basics" in relation to a report which highlighted its lack of routine maintenance.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
We inquired today about whether it was included in our maintenance fees.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 14, 2026
Routine maintenance may have to wait until a lasting truce emerges and demining can take place.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
She emptied her bucket, flipped it over, and standing atop it on her tiptoes, unscrewed the maintenance panel above her.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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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