Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To keep up or carry on; continue.
- transitive verb To keep in an existing state; preserve or retain.
- transitive verb To keep in a condition of good repair or efficiency.
- transitive verb To provide for; support.
- transitive verb To keep in existence; sustain.
- transitive verb To defend or hold against criticism or attack.
- transitive verb To declare to be true; affirm.
- transitive verb To adhere or conform to; keep.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To hold in an existing state or condition; keep in existence or continuance; preserve from lapse, decline, failure, or cessation; keep up: as, to
maintain an upright attitude; to maintain a conversation. - To furnish means for the subsistence or existence of; sustain or assist with the means of livelihood; provide for; support: as, to
maintain a family or an army; to maintain a costly equipage. - To hold fast; keep in possession; preserve from capture or loss: as, to
maintain one's ground in battle or in argument; to maintain an advantage. - To give support or encouragement to; uphold; countenance; vindicate, as by defense or adjudication.
- To uphold by argument or assertion; hold to: as, to
maintain the doctrine of the Trinity. - To represent; denote.
- Synonyms and Defend, Vindicate, etc. See
assert . - To behave; conduct one's self.
- 2. To hold as true; hold.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb 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
- transitive verb To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish.
- transitive verb To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail.
- transitive verb To bear the expense of; to support; to keep up; to supply with what is needed.
- transitive verb To affirm; to support or defend by argument.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb stick to correctly or closely
- verb have and exercise
- verb support against an opponent
- verb maintain by writing regular records
- verb keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction
- verb state categorically
- verb maintain for use and service
- verb supply with necessities and support
- verb state or assert
- verb keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Proponents of the term maintain that it must be realistically acknowledged that those who have power and benefits from racial privilege in a racist society is primarily white, and that the term “person of color” is a better generic term for those who are racially underprivileged than “black person” as it includes ethnicities other than those strictly of African descent.
Bunch-O-Links/Open Thread (While the Amp’s Away The Rachel Will Play Edition) 2007
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Proponents of the term maintain that it must be realistically acknowledged that those who have power and benefits from racial privilege in a racist society is primarily white
Bunch-O-Links/Open Thread (While the Amp’s Away The Rachel Will Play Edition) 2007
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It's a different question if what you are actually trying to maintain is never ending ending growth and stock price increases.
Hypothetical peek into the feverish mind of Rupert Murdoch - Boing Boing 2009
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I hope NASA can maintain is current structure for the time being.
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What I did say and do maintain is that formerly all objects displaying specified complexity (and particularly that subset of symbolic information) were recognized in an uncontested way as obviously the artifacts of intelligent agency.
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And, come to that, what relevance has such a poll to Intelligent Design, which some commenters here still maintain is a scientific endeavour?
A question of faith 2008
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And, come to that, what relevance has such a poll to Intelligent Design, which some commenters here still maintain is a scientific endeavour?
A question of faith 2008
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And, come to that, what relevance has such a poll to Intelligent Design, which some commenters here still maintain is a scientific endeavour?
A question of faith 2008
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However, it was a huge disappointment when stacked up against Through the Looking Glass, which I maintain is probably the greatest hour of television of all-time.
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And, come to that, what relevance has such a poll to Intelligent Design, which some commenters here still maintain is a scientific endeavour?
A question of faith 2008
lampbane commented on the word maintain
Mayor Bloomberg’s Least Favorite Word (New York Times, May 12, 2008):
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg may have a few words like “unconscionable�? that he cannot say frequently enough, but there is at least one word he apparently cannot abide: “maintain.�? It has such a negative connotation for the mayor that reporters wanting answers dare not speak its name.
May 13, 2008
mohitanand commented on the word maintain
to assert
The scientist maintained that the extinction of dinosaurs was most likely brought about by a drastic change in climate.
This word has other definitions but this is the most important one to study
October 11, 2016