'Maintain' definitions:
Definition of 'maintain'
From: WordNet
verb
Keep 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" [syn: keep, maintain, hold]
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" [syn: conserve, preserve, maintain, keep up]
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" [syn: sustain, keep, maintain]
verb
State categorically [syn: assert, asseverate, maintain]
verb
verb
Maintain for use and service; "I keep a car in the countryside"; "She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips" [syn: keep, maintain]
verb
Maintain by writing regular records; "keep a diary"; "maintain a record"; "keep notes" [syn: keep, maintain]
verb
State or assert; "He maintained his innocence" [syn: maintain, defend]
verb
Support against an opponent; "The appellate court upheld the verdict" [syn: uphold, maintain]
verb
Definition of 'Maintain'
From: GCIDE
- 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 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish. [1913 Webster]
- God values . . . every one as he maintains his post. --Grew. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail. [1913 Webster]
- Maintain talk with the duke. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To bear the expense of; to support; to keep up; to supply with what is needed. [1913 Webster]
- Glad, by his labor, to maintain his life. --Stirling. [1913 Webster]
- What maintains one vice would bring up two children. --Franklin. [1913 Webster]
- 5. To affirm; to support or defend by argument. [1913 Webster]
- It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it. --South. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: To assert; vindicate; allege. See Assert. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'maintain'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abide,
- accommodate,
- account as,
- advocate,
- affirm,
- afford,
- afford support,
- allege,
- allege in support,
- announce,
- annunciate,
- answer,
- argue,
- argue for,
- assert,
- assever,
- asseverate,
- assume,
- aver,
- avouch,
- avow,
- back,
- back up,
- be afraid,
- bear,
- bear out,
- bear up,
- bide,
- blow to,
- bolster,
- bolster up,
- bottle up,
- brace,
- brook no denial,
- buoy up,
- buttress,
- care for,
- carry,
- carry on,
- champion,
- claim,
- clothe,
- conceive,
- conserve,
- consider,
- contend,
- contend for,
- continue,
- continue to be,
- contribute,
- copyright,
- cork up,
- correct,
- counter,
- cradle,
- crutch,
- cultivate,
- cushion,
- daresay,
- declare,
- deem,
- defeat time,
- defend,
- defy time,
- donate,
- dwell,
- emphasize,
- endow,
- endure,
- enunciate,
- espouse,
- esteem,
- estimate,
- exist,
- expect,
- express,
- extend,
- fancy,
- fight for,
- fill,
- fill up,
- finance,
- find,
- fund,
- furnish,
- give,
- give support,
- go on,
- go treat,
- guard,
- guess,
- have,
- have a hunch,
- have an idea,
- have an impression,
- have an inkling,
- have the idea,
- hold,
- hold as,
- hold in,
- hold on,
- hold out,
- hold up,
- husband,
- imagine,
- inhibit,
- insist,
- insist on,
- insist upon,
- invest,
- issue a manifesto,
- judge,
- justify,
- keep,
- keep afloat,
- keep alive,
- keep going,
- keep in,
- keep intact,
- keep inviolate,
- keep on,
- keep safe,
- keep up,
- last,
- last long,
- last out,
- lay down,
- lend support,
- lengthen,
- live,
- live on,
- live through,
- lock in,
- look after,
- look upon as,
- mainstay,
- make a plea,
- make available,
- make provision for,
- manage,
- manifesto,
- not destroy,
- not endanger,
- not expend,
- not use up,
- not waste,
- nurture,
- opine,
- patent,
- pay the bill,
- perdure,
- perennate,
- perpetuate,
- persist,
- persist in,
- pillow,
- plead for,
- predicate,
- prepare,
- present,
- preserve,
- press,
- presume,
- prevail,
- proclaim,
- profess,
- prolong,
- pronounce,
- prop,
- prop up,
- protect,
- protest,
- protract,
- provide,
- provide for,
- put,
- put it,
- rebut,
- reckon,
- recruit,
- rectify,
- refute,
- regard,
- register,
- reinforce,
- remain,
- replenish,
- reply,
- repress,
- respond,
- retain,
- right,
- riposte,
- run,
- run on,
- save,
- save up,
- say,
- say in defense,
- set down,
- set down as,
- set up,
- shore,
- shore up,
- shoulder,
- spare,
- speak,
- speak for,
- speak out,
- speak up,
- speak up for,
- stand,
- stand by,
- stand drinks,
- stand for,
- stand on,
- stand to,
- stand treat,
- stand up for,
- state,
- stay,
- stay on,
- stick to,
- stick up for,
- stock,
- store,
- stress,
- submit,
- subsidize,
- subsist,
- subvention,
- subventionize,
- supply,
- support,
- suppose,
- suppress,
- surmise,
- survive,
- suspect,
- sustain,
- take,
- take care of,
- take for,
- take it,
- take no denial,
- tarry,
- testify,
- think,
- tide over,
- treat,
- treat to,
- trow,
- underbrace,
- undergird,
- underlie,
- underpin,
- underset,
- upbear,
- uphold,
- upkeep,
- urge,
- urge reasons for,
- view as,
- vindicate,
- vouchsafe,
- warrant,
- wear,
- wear well,
- ween,
- yield