maintain

maintain
transitive verb Etymology: Middle English mainteinen, from Anglo-French maintenir, maynteiner, from Medieval Latin manutenēre, from Latin manu tenēre to hold in the hand Date: 14th century 1. to keep in an existing state (as of repair, efficiency, or validity) ; preserve from failure or decline <
maintain machinery
>
2. to sustain against opposition or danger ; uphold and defend <
maintain a position
>
3. to continue or persevere in ; carry on, keep up <
couldn't maintain his composure
>
4. a. to support or provide for <
has a family to maintain
>
b. sustain <
enough food to maintain life
>
5. to affirm in or as if in argument ; assert <
maintained that the earth is flat
>
maintainability nounmaintainable adjectivemaintainer noun Synonyms: maintain, assert, defend, vindicate, justify mean to uphold as true, right, just, or reasonable. maintain stresses firmness of conviction <
steadfastly maintained his innocence
>
. assert suggests determination to make others accept one's claim <
asserted her rights
>
. defend implies maintaining in the face of attack or criticism <
defended his voting record
>
. vindicate implies successfully defending <
his success vindicated our faith in him
>
. justify implies showing to be true, just, or valid by appeal to a standard or to precedent <
the action was used to justify military intervention
>
.

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • Maintain — Main*tain, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Maintained}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Maintaining}.] [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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • maintain — main‧tain [meɪnˈteɪn, mən ] verb [transitive] 1. to make something continue in the same way or at the same high standard as before: • It is impossible to maintain exports at past levels. • To maintain sales growth, the company plans to unveil a… …   Financial and business terms

  • maintain — maintain, assert, defend, vindicate, justify are comparable when they mean to uphold as true, right, just, valid, or worthy of notice or acceptance in the face of opposition or indifference. Maintain implies a firmness of conviction. When this… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • maintain — I (carry on) verb adfirmare, confirmare, contendere, continue, follow up, go on, keep alive, keep going, keep on, keep up, perpetuate, persevere, persist, proceed with, prolong, pursue, shore up, stick to II (commence) verb activate, b …   Law dictionary

  • maintain — [mān tān′] vt. [ME mainteinen < OFr maintenir < ML manutenere < L manu tenere, to hold in the hand < manu, abl. of manus, hand + tenere, to hold: see MANUAL & TENANT] 1. to keep or keep up; continue in or with; carry on 2. a) to keep… …   English World dictionary

  • Maintain — Allgemeine Informationen Genre(s) Metalcore Gründung 1998 Website http://www.maintain hc.de …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • maintain — [v1] care for, keep up advance, carry on, conserve, continue, control, cultivate, finance, go on with, guard, keep, keep going, look after, manage, nurture, perpetuate, persevere, preserve, prolong, protect, provide, renew, repair, retain, save,… …   New thesaurus

  • maintain — (v.) mid 13c., to practice habitually, from Anglo Fr. meintenir (O.Fr. maintenir, 12c.) keep (a wife), sustain; persevere in, practice continually, from L. manu tenere hold in the hand, from manu, ablative of manus hand (see MANUAL (Cf. manual))… …   Etymology dictionary

  • maintain — ► VERB 1) cause or enable (a condition or state of affairs) to continue. 2) keep (a building, machine, etc.) in good condition by checking or repairing it regularly. 3) provide with necessities for life or existence. 4) assert to be the case.… …   English terms dictionary

  • maintain — 01. Tian Hsu works hard to [maintain] close friendships with the students she studied with in London. 02. The roads haven t been properly [maintained], and now are full of cracks and potholes. 03. The President always [maintained] that he didn t… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • maintain — [[t]meɪnte͟ɪn[/t]] ♦♦ maintains, maintaining, maintained 1) VERB If you maintain something, you continue to have it, and do not let it stop or grow weaker. [V n] The Department maintains many close contacts with the chemical industry... [V n]… …   English dictionary

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