Maintain

Maintain
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]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • 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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