Definition of "maintenance" []

• The act of maintaining or the state of being maintained. (noun)
• The work of keeping something in proper condition; upkeep. (noun)
• Provision of support or livelihood: took over the maintenance of her family. (noun)
• Means of support or livelihood: was ordered to pay maintenance for both children. (noun)
• Law The unlawful meddling in a suit by providing either party with the means to carry it on. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I was making $16.21 an hour, because I did some networking on the inside with a family friend who told me what I would need to learn in order to become a maintenance person, or what they called a maintenance technician, which is really just a janitor, but laughs that's a good title for it."
• "I ` m doing what they call maintenance chemo, a user-friendly chemo agent."
• "The square open-air cloister, like many other areas of the church, had forgotten the meaning of the word maintenance."