What does "maintain" mean?
Maintain: To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish. God values . . . every one as he maintains his post. Grew.
Additional senses
- 2.To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail. Maintain talk with the duke. Shak.
- 3.To bear the expense of; to support; to keep up; to supply with what is needed. Glad, by his labor, to maintain his life. Stirling. What maintains one vice would bring up two children. Franklin.
- 4.To affirm; to support or defend by argument. It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it. South. See Assert.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00