MAINTAIN

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does maintain mean? 

• MAINTAIN (verb)
  The verb MAINTAIN has 10 senses:

1. cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., 'keep clean'

2. keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction

3. supply with necessities and support

4. state categorically

5. have and exercise

6. maintain for use and service

7. maintain by writing regular records

8. state or assert

9. support against an opponent

10. stick to correctly or closely

  Familiarity information: MAINTAIN used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAINTAIN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they maintain    ... he / she / it maintains   
Past simple: maintained   
Past participle: maintained   
-ing form: maintaining   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., 'keep clean'

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hold; keep; maintain

Context example:

The students keep me on my toes

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

pressurise; pressurize (maintain a certain pressure)

bear on; carry on; continue; preserve; uphold (keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last)

hold over (keep in a position or state from an earlier period of time)

conserve (keep constant through physical or chemical reactions or evolutionary change)

preserve (keep undisturbed for personal or private use for hunting, shooting, or fishing)

distance (keep at a distance)

housekeep (maintain a household; take care of all business related to a household)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s something Adjective/Noun
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

maintainable (capable of being maintained)

maintainer (someone who upholds or maintains)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

conserve; keep up; maintain; preserve

Context example:

The museum curator conserved the ancient manuscripts

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

keep (look after; be the keeper of; have charge of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

plastinate (preserve (tissue) with plastics, as for teaching and research purposes)

hold the line (hold the line on prices; keep the price of something constant)

embalm (preserve a dead body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

maintenance (activity involved in maintaining something in good working order)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Supply with necessities and support

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

keep; maintain; sustain

Context example:

There's little to earn and many to keep

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

patronage (support by being a patron of)

reseed (maintain by seeding without human intervention)

carry (keep up with financial support)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

maintenance (the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence)

maintenance (means of maintenance of a family or group)

Sense 4

Meaning:

State categorically

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

assert; asseverate; maintain

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

insist; take a firm stand (be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

allege; aver; say (report or maintain)

predicate; proclaim (affirm or declare as an attribute or quality of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They maintain that there was a traffic accident

Sense 5

Meaning:

Have and exercise

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

exert; maintain; wield

Context example:

wield power and authority

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Maintain for use and service

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

keep; maintain

Context example:

She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

have; have got; hold (have or possess, either in a concrete or an abstract sense)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 7

Meaning:

Maintain by writing regular records

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

keep; maintain

Context example:

keep notes

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

State or assert

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

defend; maintain

Context example:

He maintained his innocence

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

affirm (say yes to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

vindicate (maintain, uphold, or defend)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 9

Meaning:

Support against an opponent

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

maintain; uphold

Context example:

The appellate court upheld the verdict

Hypernyms (to "maintain" is one way to...):

confirm; reassert (strengthen or make more firm)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "maintain"):

justify; vindicate (show to be right by providing justification or proof)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 10

Meaning:

Stick to correctly or closely

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

keep; maintain; observe

Context example:

I cannot keep track of all my employees

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

He maintained all his delightful qualities to the last, until we started forth, at eight o'clock, for Mr. Peggotty's boat.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

This agent also inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokine release and maintains glycoprotein homeostasis.

(Aprotinin, NCI Thesaurus)

But as a rule he managed to maintain a dignity that was almost solemnity.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Merlin may maintain normal cytoskeletal organization.

(Merlin, NCI Thesaurus)

This process, called metabolism, makes energy and the materials needed for growth, reproduction, and maintaining health.

(Metabolite, NCI Dictionary)

He looked at me long and hard: I turned my eyes from him, fixed them on the fire, and tried to assume and maintain a quiet, collected aspect.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The naturally-occurring bacterial components in this dietary supplement may improve digestion and help maintain adequate colonization of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by modulating the composition of the normal microflora.

(Beta-glucan/Lactobacillus casei/Bifidobacterium lactis-based Supplement, NCI Thesaurus)

Buck stood it, keeping his mates up to their work and maintaining discipline, though he, too, was very tired.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

It is hard to maintain one’s dignity under such circumstances.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The researchers sought to develop a new way to amplify insulin production while maintaining the important real-time link between the release of insulin and concentration of glucose in the bloodstream.

(Researchers Develop Insulin-Producing Cells Activated by Light for Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)