maintain
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English mayntenen, from Old French maintenir, from Late Latin manūteneō, manūtenēre (“I support”), from Latin manū (“with/in/by the hand”, ablative of manus) + tenēre (“to hold”).
Inflected forms:
form: maintains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: maintaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: maintained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: maintained
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).
pos: verb
examples: maintain contact
maintain order
maintain a relationship
It’s important to maintain good posture while sitting.
She struggled to maintain her composure under pressure.
Ther[idamas]. Won with thy words, & conquered with thy lookes,
I yeeld my ſelfe, my men & horſe to thee:
To be partaker of thy good or ill,
As long as life maintaines Theridimas.
This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.
Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.
gloss: To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.
pos: verb
examples: Pullman traditionalists will no doubt maintain that the full-service-at-every-seat principle is popular with their clientele; [...].
She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."
Rail Minister Lord Hendy was quizzed by the same MPs at an earlier hearing. He maintained that the Bill gave Mayors "much enhanced power" and preserved the existing processes by which rail services can be devolved. "The intention, more widely, is to work collaboratively with all devolved leaders to meet local needs," he said. "It has to be tempered by the reality, which is that the railway network is not generally consistent with mayoral boundaries. […]".
gloss: To keep in good condition and working order.
pos: verb
examples: The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order.
gloss: To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man.
When I left Mr. Bates, I went down to my Father; where, by the Aſſiſtance of him and my Uncle John, and ſome other Relations, I got forty Pounds, and a Promiſe of thirty Pounds a year to maintain me at Leyden: there I ſtudied Phyſick two years and ſeven months, knowing it would be uſeful in long Voyages.
gloss: To keep composed; to keep one's head up; to stay confident, strong, self-assured; to avoid being a victim; to keep oneself from falling apart.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
slang
examples: No matter what, you gotta maintain.
Antonyms: abandon
Derived words: maingain
maingaining
maintainability
maintainable
maintain appearances
maintainment
mismaintain
undermaintain
Translations: