maintenance
noun
Simple meaning
Actions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mayntuhnuhnsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmeɪntənəns
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Actions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service.
Money required or spent to provide for the needs of a person or a family.
biology
The natural process which keeps an organism alive.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Actions performed to keep some machine or system functioning or in service.
Used this way, maintenance is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A skilled worker whose job is to repair things.
Those in a business responsible for maintaining the physical plant.
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…
Group insurance that entitles members to services of participating hospitals and clinics and physicians.
Maintenance at a regularly scheduled time.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- equipmentnoun
- facilitynoun
- operationaladjective
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.