maintain
[ meyn-teyn ]
/ meɪnˈteɪn /
verb (used with object)
Origin of maintain
SYNONYMS FOR maintain
synonym study for maintain
4.
Maintain,
assert,
aver,
allege,
hold,
state all mean to express an opinion, judgment, or position.
Maintain carries the implications of both firmness and persistence in declaring or supporting a conviction:
She maintained her client's innocence even in the face of damaging evidence.
Assert suggests assurance, confidence, and sometimes aggressiveness in the effort to persuade others to agree with or accept one's position:
He asserted again and again the government's right to control the waterway.
Aver, like
assert, implies confident declaration and sometimes suggests a firmly positive or peremptory tone; in legal use
aver means “to allege as fact”:
to aver that the evidence is incontrovertible.
Allege indicates a statement without evidence to support it, and thus can imply doubt as to the validity or accuracy of an assertion:
The official is alleged to have been unaware of the crime.
Hold means simply to have or express a conviction or belief:
We hold these truths to be self-evident; She held that her rights had been violated.
State usually suggests a declaration that is forthright and unambiguous:
He stated his reasons in clear, simple language.
7. See
support.
OTHER WORDS FROM maintain
Words nearby maintain
Example sentences from the Web for maintained
British Dictionary definitions for maintained
maintain
/ (meɪnˈteɪn) /
verb (tr)
to continue or retain; keep in existence
to keep in proper or good condition
to maintain a building
to support a style of living
the money maintained us for a month
(takes a clause as object)
to state or assert
he maintained that Talbot was wrong
to defend against contradiction; uphold
she maintained her innocence
to defend against physical attack
Derived forms of maintain
maintainable, adjective maintainer, nounWord Origin for maintain
C13: from Old French
maintenir, ultimately from Latin
manū tenēre to hold in the hand