[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

maintenance \main"tenance\, n. of. maintenance. see
   maintain.
   1. the act of maintaining; sustenance; support; defense;
      vindication.
      1913 webster

            whatsoever is granted to the church for god's honor
            and the maintenance of his service, is granted to
            god.                                  --south.
      1913 webster

   2. that which maintains or supports; means of sustenance;
      supply of necessaries and conveniences.
      1913 webster

            those of better fortune not making learning their
            maintenance.                          --swift.
      1913 webster

   3. crim. law an officious or unlawful intermeddling in a
      cause depending between others, by assisting either party
      with money or means to carry it on. see champerty.
      --wharton.
      1913 webster

   4. those actions required for the care of machinery, a
      building, etc., to keep it clean and in proper functioning
      condition, and to prevent or forestall damage due to
      normal use.
      pjc

   5. payments, such as child support or alimony, to a dependent
      child not living with one or to a divorced wife.
      pjc

   cap of maintenance. see under cap.
      1913 webster
see also:
maintain champerty cap of maintenance cap 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

maintenance
     n 1: activity involved in maintaining something in good working
          order; "he wrote the manual on car care" syn: care, upkeep
     2: means of maintenance of a family or group
     3: court-ordered support paid by one spouse to another after
        they are separated syn: alimony
     4: the act of sustaining life by food or providing a means of
        subsistence; "they were in want of sustenance"; "fishing
        was their main sustainment" syn: sustenance, sustentation,
         sustainment, upkeep
see also:
care upkeep alimony sustenance sustentation sustainment 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

128 moby thesaurus words for "maintenance":
   tlc, abidingness, age, aid, alimentation, alimony, allowance,
   antiquity, backing, bottling up, bread, care, carriage, carrying,
   conservancy, conservation, conservationism, constancy,
   continualness, continuance, continuation, continuity, contribution,
   corking up, daily bread, defeat of time, defiance of time,
   diuturnity, durability, durableness, duration, economic support,
   endowment, endurance, environmental conservation, extension,
   forest conservation, forest management, holding, holding in,
   inhibition, keep, keeping, lastingness, lengthening, livelihood,
   living, locking in, long standing, long-lastingness,
   long-livedness, longevity, maintaining, manna, meat, moral support,
   mothering, nourishment, nurture, paying the bills, perdurability,
   perennation, permanence, perpetuation, perpetuity, perseverance,
   persistence, prehension, preserval, preservation, price support,
   progress, progression, prolongation, protection, protraction,
   provision, psychological support, pursuance, reliance, repetition,
   repression, retainment, retention, retentiveness, retentivity, run,
   safekeeping, salt, salvage, salvation, saving, security blanket,
   soil conservation, stability, standing, standing treat,
   staying power, steadfastness, stipend, straight course,
   stream conservation, subsidization, subsidy, subsistence,
   subvention, support, supportive relationship, supportive therapy,
   suppression, survival, survivance, sustained action, sustaining,
   sustainment, sustenance, sustentation, tenacity,
   tender loving care, treat, uninterrupted course, unremittingness,
   upholding, upkeep, water conservation, way, wetlands conservation,
   wildlife conservation

[4] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

maintenance
     
         the modification of a software product, after
        delivery, to correct faults, to improve performance or other
        attributes, or to adapt the product to a changed environment.
     
        maintenance is an important part of the software life-cycle.
        it is expensive in manpower and resources, and one of the aims
        of software engineering is to reduce its cost.
     
        1996-12-27
     
     
see also:
software life-cycle software engineering 

[5] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

maintenance, quasi contracts. the support which one person, who is bound by 
law to do so, gives to another for his living; for example, a father is 
bound to find maintenance for his children; and a child is required by law 
to maintain his father or mother when they cannot support themselves, and he 
has ability to maintain them. 1 bouv. inst. n. 284-6. 

[6] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

maintenance, crimes. a malicious, or at least, officious interference in a 
suit in which the offender has no interest, to assist one of the parties to 
it against the other, with money or advice to prosecute or defend the 
action, without any authority of law. 1 russ. cr. 176. 
     2. but there are many acts in the nature of maintenance, which become 
justifiable from the circumstances under which they are done. they may be 
justified, 1. because the party has an interest in the thing in variance; as 
when he has a bare contingency in the lands in question, which possibly may 
never come in esse. bac. ab. h.t. 2. because the party is of kindred or 
affinity, as father, son, or heir apparent, or husband or wife. 3. because 
the relation of landlord and tenant or master and servant subsists between 
the party to the suit and the person who assists him. 4. because the money 
is given out of charity. 1 bailey, s. c. rep. 401. 5. because the person 
assisting the party to the suit is an attorney or counsellor: the assistance 
to be rendered must, however, be strictly professional, for a lawyer is not 
more justified in giving his client money than another man. 1 russ. cr. 179. 
bac. ab maintenance: bro. maintenance. this offence is punishable by fine 
and imprisonment. 4 black com. 124; 2 swift's dig. 328; bac. ab. h.t. vide 3 
hawks, 86; 1 greenl. 292; 11 mass. 553, 6 mass. 421; 5 pick. 359; 5 monr. 
413; 6 cowen, 431; 4 wend. 806; 14 john. r. 124; 3 cowen, 647; 3 john. ch. 
r. 508 7 d.  r. 846; 5 b.  c. 188. 

Maintenance >> M Words
Maintenance, definition of term: Maintenance
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