MAINTENANCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does maintenance mean? 

• MAINTENANCE (noun)
  The noun MAINTENANCE has 5 senses:

1. activity involved in maintaining something in good working order

2. means of maintenance of a family or group

3. court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated

4. the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence

5. the unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community

  Familiarity information: MAINTENANCE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MAINTENANCE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Activity involved in maintaining something in good working order

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

care; maintenance; upkeep

Context example:

he wrote the manual on car care

Hypernyms ("maintenance" is a kind of...):

fix; fixing; fixture; mend; mending; repair; reparation (the act of putting something in working order again)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "maintenance"):

camera care (keeping a camera in good working order)

car care (keeping a car in good working order)

inspection and repair; overhaul; service (periodic maintenance on a car or machine)

pump priming (introducing water into a pump to improve the seal and start the water flowing)

scheduled maintenance (maintenance at a regularly scheduled time)

steam fitting (care (installation and maintenance) of equipment for ventilating or heating or refrigerating)

Derivation:

maintain (keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Means of maintenance of a family or group

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("maintenance" is a kind of...):

bread and butter; keep; livelihood; living; support; sustenance (the financial means whereby one lives)

Derivation:

maintain (supply with necessities and support)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after they are separated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

alimony; maintenance

Hypernyms ("maintenance" is a kind of...):

support payment (a payment made by one person for the support of another)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of subsistence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

maintenance; sustainment; sustenance; sustentation; upkeep

Context example:

fishing was their main sustainment

Hypernyms ("maintenance" is a kind of...):

support (the activity of providing for or maintaining by supplying with money or necessities)

Derivation:

maintain (supply with necessities and support)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The unauthorized interference in a legal action by a person having no interest in it (as by helping one party with money or otherwise to continue the action) so as to obstruct justice or promote unnecessary litigation or unsettle the peace of the community

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

criminal maintenance; maintenance

Context example:

unlike champerty, criminal maintenance does not necessarily involve personal profit

Hypernyms ("maintenance" is a kind of...):

actus reus; misconduct; wrongdoing; wrongful conduct (activity that transgresses moral or civil law)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

 Context examples 

The Philadelphia translocation produces a BCR-ABL1 chimeric product required for induction and maintenance of leukemia.

(BCR Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

Persistence of one or more non-target lesion(s) and/or maintenance of tumor marker levels above the normal limits.

(Non Complete Response/Non Progressive Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

Adherens junctions (AJs; also called the zonula adherens) are critical for the establishment and maintenance of epithelial layers, such as those lining organ surfaces.

(Beta Catenin, NCI Thesaurus/from OMIM)

This protein plays a role in both the maintenance and differentiation of sympathetic and sensory neurons.

(Beta-Nerve Growth Factor, NCI Thesaurus)

Bevacizumab binds to VEGF and inhibits VEGF receptor binding, thereby preventing the growth and maintenance of tumor blood vessels.

(Bevacizumab, NCI Thesaurus)

The maintenance of a stable, upright body position.

(Balance, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes vasopressin V2 receptor protein, is involved in the maintenance of water homeostasis and G protein-coupled receptor signal transduction.

(AVPR2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein is involved in angiopoietin signaling, tyrosine phosphorylation and endothelial cell maintenance.

(Angiopoietin-1 Receptor, NCI Thesaurus)

Nrf2, a leucine zipper transcription factor, plays a key role in the maintenance of redox balance and cytoprotection against oxidative stress.

(Nrf2 Activator RTA 408, NCI Thesaurus)

The gene product exhibits neurite outgrowth-promoting activity and may play a role in nervous system development and/or maintenance.

(Neurite Growth-Promoting Factor 2, NCI Thesaurus)