MAINTAIN

observe, keep, maintain

(verb) stick to correctly or closely; “The pianist kept time with the metronome”; “keep count”; “I cannot keep track of all my employees”

uphold, maintain

(verb) support against an opponent; “The appellate court upheld the verdict”

assert, asseverate, maintain

(verb) state categorically

maintain, defend

(verb) state or assert; “He maintained his innocence”

keep, maintain

(verb) maintain by writing regular records; “keep a diary”; “maintain a record”; “keep notes”

sustain, keep, maintain

(verb) supply with necessities and support; “She alone sustained her family”; “The money will sustain our good cause”; “There’s little to earn and many to keep”

wield, exert, maintain

(verb) have and exercise; “wield power and authority”

conserve, preserve, maintain, keep up

(verb) keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction; “We preserve these archeological findings”; “The old lady could not keep up the building”; “children must be taught to conserve our national heritage”; “The museum curator conserved the ancient manuscripts”

keep, maintain, hold

(verb) cause to continue in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g., ‘keep clean’; “hold in place”; “She always held herself as a lady”; “The students keep me on my toes”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

maintain (third-person singular simple present maintains, present participle maintaining, simple past and past participle maintained)

(obsolete, transitive) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action. [14th-19thc.]

To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.). [from 14thc.]

To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert. [from 15thc.]

Antonyms

• (to keep up): abandon

Anagrams

• amanitin

Source: Wiktionary


Main*tain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Maintained; p. pr. & vb. n. Maintaining.] Etym: [OE. maintenen, F. maintenir, properly, to hold by the hand; main hand (L. manus) + F. tenir to hold (L.tenere). See Manual, and Tenable.]

1. To hold or keep in any particular state or condition; to support; to sustain; to uphold; to keep up; not to suffer to fail or decline; as, to maintain a certain degree of heat in a furnace; to maintain a fence or a railroad; to maintain the digestive process or powers of the stomach; to maintain the fertility of soil; to maintain present reputation.

2. To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish. God values . . . every one as he maintains his post. Grew.

3. To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail. Maintain talk with the duke. Shak.

4. To bear the expense of; to support; to keep up; to supply with what is needed. Glad, by his labor, to maintain his life. Stirling. What maintains one vice would bring up two children. Franklin.

5. To affirm; to support or defend by argument. It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it. South.

Syn.

– To assert; vindicate; allege. See Assert.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

24 February 2025

ANOMALY

(noun) (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun)


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