- observe correctly or closely
"The pianist kept time with the metronome"
"keep count"
"I cannot keep track of all my employees"

- support against an opponent
"The appellate court upheld the verdict"

- state categorically

- state or assert
"He maintained his innocence"

- maintain by writing regular records
"keep a diary"
"maintain a record"
"keep notes"

- supply with necessities and support
"She alone sustained her family"
"The money will sustain our good cause"
"There''s little to earn and many to keep"

- maintain for use and service
"I keep a car in the countryside"
"She keeps an apartment in Paris for her shopping trips"

- of power or authority

- keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction
"We preserve these archeological findings"
"The old lady could not keep up the building"
"children must be taught to conserve our national heritage"
"The museum curator conserved the an

- keep in a certain state, position, or activity

- e.g., "keep clean"
"hold in place"
"She always held herself as a lady"
"The students keep me on my toes"

1. To hold or keep in any particular state or condition; to support; to sustain; to uphold; to keep up; not to suffer to fail or decline; as, to maintain a certain degree of heat in a furnace; to maintain a fence or a railroad; to maintain the digestive process or powers of the stomach; to maintain the fertility of soil; to maintain present reputation.

2. To keep possession of; to hold and defend; not to surrender or relinquish.

"God values . . . every one as he maintains his post." -- Grew.

3. To continue; not to suffer to cease or fail.

"Maintain talk with the duke." -- Shak.

4. 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.

5. To affirm; to support or defend by argument.

"It is hard to maintain the truth, but much harder to be maintained by it." -- South.

Syn. -- To assert; vindicate; allege. See Assert.