maintain: Meaning and Definition of

main•tain

1. to keep in existence or continuance; preserve; retain: to maintain good relations with neighboring countries.
2. to keep in an appropriate condition, operation, or force; keep unimpaired: to maintain order; to maintain public highways.
3. to keep in a specified state, position, etc.: to maintain a correct posture; to maintain good health.
4. to affirm; assert; declare: He maintained that the country was going downhill.
5. to support in speech or argument, as a statement or proposition.
6. to keep or hold against attack: to maintain one's ground.
7. to provide for the upkeep or support of; carry the expenses of: to maintain a family.
8. to sustain or support: not enough water to maintain life.