Adjacent Words

Maintenance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MA'INTENANCE, n. Sustenance; sustentation; support by means of supplies of food, clothing and other conveniences; as, his labor contributed little to the maintenance of his family.
1. Means of support; that which supplies conveniences.
Those of better fortune not making learning their maintenance.
2. Support; protection; defense; vindication; as the maintenance of right or just claims.
3. Continuance; security from failure or decline.
Whatever is granted to the church for God's honor and the maintenance of his service, is granted to God.
4. In law, an officious intermeddling in a suit in which the person has no interest, by assisting either party with money or means to prosecute or defend it. This is a punishable offense. But to assist a poor kinsman from compassion, is not maintenance.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: activity involved in maintaining something in good working order; "he wrote the manual on car care" [syn: care, maintenance, upkeep]
2: means of maintenance of a family or group
3: court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated [syn: alimony, maintenance]
4: the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence; "they were in want of sustenance"; "fishing was their main sustainment" [syn: sustenance, sustentation, sustainment, maintenance, upkeep]
5: the unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community; "unlike champerty, criminal maintenance does not necessarily involve personal profit" [syn: maintenance, criminal maintenance]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from maintenir Date: 14th century 1. the act of maintaining ; the state of being maintained ; support 2. something that maintains 3. the upkeep of property or equipment 4. an officious or unlawful intermeddling in a legal suit by assisting either party with means to carry it on

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the process of maintaining or being maintained. 2 a the provision of the means to support life, esp. by work etc. b (also separate maintenance) a husband's or wife's provision for a spouse after separation or divorce; alimony. 3 Law hist. the offence of aiding a party in litigation without lawful cause. Etymology: ME f. OF f. maintenir: see MAINTAIN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Maintenance Main"te*nance, n. [OF. maintenance. See Maintain.] 1. The act of maintaining; sustenance; support; defense; vindication. Whatsoever is granted to the church for God's honor and the maintenance of his service, is granted to God. --South. 2. That which maintains or supports; means of sustenance; supply of necessaries and conveniences. Those of better fortune not making learning their maintenance. --Swift. 3. (Crim. Law) An officious or unlawful intermeddling in a cause depending between others, by assisting either party with money or means to carry it on. See Champerty. --Wharton. Cap of maintenance. See under Cap.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. The maintenance of a building, vehicle, road, or machine is the process of keeping it in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary. ...maintenance work on government buildings... The window had been replaced last week during routine maintenance. 2. Maintenance is money that someone gives regularly to another person to pay for the things that the person needs. ...the government's plan to make absent fathers pay maintenance for their children. N-UNCOUNT 3. If you ensure the maintenance of a state or process, you make sure that it continues. ...the maintenance of peace and stability in Asia. N-UNCOUNT: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Support, vindication, justification, defence, preservation, sustenance. 2. Sustenance, food, victuals, provisions, bread, livelihood, subsistence.

Moby Thesaurus

TLC, abidingness, age, aid, alimentation, alimony, allowance, antiquity, backing, bottling up, bread, care, carriage, carrying, conservancy, conservation, conservationism, constancy, continualness, continuance, continuation, continuity, contribution, corking up, daily bread, defeat of time, defiance of time, diuturnity, durability, durableness, duration, economic support, endowment, endurance, environmental conservation, extension, forest conservation, forest management, holding, holding in, inhibition, keep, keeping, lastingness, lengthening, livelihood, living, locking in, long standing, long-lastingness, long-livedness, longevity, maintaining, manna, meat, moral support, mothering, nourishment, nurture, paying the bills, perdurability, perennation, permanence, perpetuation, perpetuity, perseverance, persistence, prehension, preserval, preservation, price support, progress, progression, prolongation, protection, protraction, provision, psychological support, pursuance, reliance, repetition, repression, retainment, retention, retentiveness, retentivity, run, safekeeping, salt, salvage, salvation, saving, security blanket, soil conservation, stability, standing, standing treat, staying power, steadfastness, stipend, straight course, stream conservation, subsidization, subsidy, subsistence, subvention, support, supportive relationship, supportive therapy, suppression, survival, survivance, sustained action, sustaining, sustainment, sustenance, sustentation, tenacity, tender loving care, treat, uninterrupted course, unremittingness, upholding, upkeep, water conservation, way, wetlands conservation, wildlife conservation