maintenance Hear it!

maintenance definition

main·te·nance (mānt′'n əns)

noun

  1. a maintaining or being maintained; upkeep, support, defense, etc.; specif., the work of keeping a building, machinery, etc. in a state of good repair
  2. means of support or sustenance; livelihood a job that barely provides a maintenance
  3. Law the act of interfering unlawfully in a suit between others by helping either party, as by giving money, to carry it on

Etymology: ME maintenaunce < OFr maintenance

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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