Maintain meaning in English

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Definition

to maintain: to keep, to have, to guard verb
Try to maintain control.
(a) well-maintained (garden): (a) tidy (garden), which someone takes good care of adjective

Examples

  • "As most of his projects involve several days, sometimes weeks or months, before their completion, Mr. Oléré has professed to maintaining up to thirty-six simultaneous chores."
  • "I maintain the balance of fluid in the body by removing waste from the blood and excreting it as urine."
  • "-Going the extra mile to satisfy a customer is a great way of maintaining customer loyalty."
  • "Your role is critical in maintaining our strong sales numbers despite the economic downturn."
  • "It's true that Stickypedia is maintained by anonymous volunteers rather than renowned experts, but despite this, it works remarkably well!"
  • "Greenzo: Saving the earth while maintaining profitability."
  • "You must have spent millions to have this place built and you must be paying millions just to maintain it!"
  • "It maintains a certain formality which is more appropriate to business situations."
  • "To help us maintain the high standards of our consulting group, we would greatly appreciate if you could take a few moments to fill in the attached performance evaluation form for our employee, Robert Tiberius Carter."
  • "We should limit the availability of the boxed set to maintain a high demand, but only because we have no other choice."
  • "I'll need to check that your equipment and utensils are clean and well-maintained."
  • "Bruno : That's good, because the most important thing about customer service is maintaining a solid relationship with our clients."
  • "I managed to maintain a shred of dignity by sticking out my ‘pinkie' finger with each sip."
Exercise 1
Choose all of the true statements from the list below.

There may be more than one correct answer!
Choose all of the true statements from the list below.

There may be more than one correct answer!
Bruno asks Trey if he can understand what he is saying, to which Trey replies "I read you loud and clear". This is not a reference to Trey actually "reading" something. It is a phrase which derives from radio code used by the military to scale the quality of a radio transmission. This expression is used to indicate that something is understood, or very clear.
Bruno says "the most important thing about customer service is maintaining a solid relationship with our clients". He then reinforces this by asking Trey to repeat the Customer Service motto, "the customer is always right". This means that he wants the relationship between the Delavigne Corporation and its clients to stay strong.
Bruno says "Even as we try to improve sales and reach new markets, our customer base must remain both loyal and satisfied." To "reach" new markets means to "gain access" to new markets and sell to new customers. Bruno wants to attract future clients (=he is concerned about future clients) without forgetting Delavigne's existing clients.
Bruno says he needs someone who can "wear several hats". This actually means that he needs someone that can carry out a range of different roles. It does not literally mean that Bruno wants Trey to wear many hats. It would make it rather difficult to answer all those phones if he wore hats all the time
Bruno says "we need someone who can multi-task". To "multi-task" means to carry out "multiple" or "many" tasks at the same time.
Exercise 2
The following verbs were all used in the dialogue. Use them to complete the sentences below. Not all the words are used, and you may have to change the tense!

to shape | to excrete | to carry | to inject | to locate | to maintain

I am like my mother. We're both rather fat.

Last night, the nurse me with morphine. I felt great!

If you blood when you go to the toilet, you should visit your doctor.

I've just lost a lot of weight. I hope I can this body through regular exercise!
The following verbs were all used in the dialogue. Use them to complete the sentences below. Not all the words are used, and you may have to change the tense!

to shape | to excrete | to carry | to inject | to locate | to maintain

I am shaped 1 like my mother. We're both rather fat.

Last night, the nurse injected 2 me with morphine. I felt great!

If you excrete 3 blood when you go to the toilet, you should visit your doctor.

I've just lost a lot of weight. I hope I can maintain 4 this body through regular exercise!
1 shaped: This is the right answer. The shape of someone is the form of their body: fat, thin, voluptuous, skinny etc. It describes their appearance and build. For example, "I'm not shaped like a model. I look more like a bus".
2 injected: This is the right answer here. To "inject" means to introduce into the bloodstream with a needle or syringe. Synonyms include to "give a shot" and "to vaccinate". Example: "The nurse injected me with an anti-malaria drug before I went on holiday".
3 excrete: This is the correct verb in the correct tense. To "excrete" means to eliminate foreign substances or waste from the body. To "perspire", "defecate", "urinate", "ejaculate"... these are all examples of bodily excretions. You may be reading this very early in the morning, so we won't continue with any more detailed descriptions.
4 maintain: This is correct. To "maintain" means to "conserve", to "continue" or to "prolong". For example, "I maintain my level of German by reading German newspapers once a week".
Exercise 3
Curtis Blow is checking to see:

There may be more than one correct answer!
Curtis Blow is checking to see:

There may be more than one correct answer!
This is incorrect. Curtis does not say that one of the purposes of his visit is to check to see if the Delavigne laboratory assistants have the correct training. To "train (someone)" is to teach or instruct them.
This is correct. Curtis say that he wants "to see your products are properly labeled". To "label (a product)" is to put a ticket on the front of it, so that you can identify it easily.
This is correct. Curtis says that he wants to see if the equipment is "well-maintained": if it is in good condition or a state of good repair.
This is incorrect. Although Curtis asks if there are monkeys in the laboratory, it is not one of the reasons of his visit.
Exercise 4
Complete the sentences below with terms from the dialogue. No term is used more than once, and some terms may not be used at all.

knowledge | inaccurate | learned | combined | renowned | maintained | anonymous |

The website, www.know-your-dog.com, was created by (famous, celebrated) animal doctor, Tim Gappy. Gappy was concerned that much of the online advice about dogs was (wrong, imprecise), so he wanted to provide a reliable source of information where dog lovers could benefit from his expert (information, understanding). The site is (managed, sustained) by Gappy and his wife, Gail. Gappy says, "the website is a (mixed, composite) effort: Gail handles the graphic design, while I write the content."
Complete the sentences below with terms from the dialogue. No term is used more than once, and some terms may not be used at all.

knowledge | inaccurate | learned | combined | renowned | maintained | anonymous |

The website, www.know-your-dog.com, was created by renowned 1 (famous, celebrated) animal doctor, Tim Gappy. Gappy was concerned that much of the online advice about dogs was inaccurate 2 (wrong, imprecise), so he wanted to provide a reliable source of information where dog lovers could benefit from his expert knowledge 3 (information, understanding). The site is maintained 4 (managed, sustained) by Gappy and his wife, Gail. Gappy says, "the website is a combined 5 (mixed, composite) effort: Gail handles the graphic design, while I write the content."
1 renowned: If something is "renowned", it is famous, celebrated or notable. Example: Einstein was a RENOWNED scientist. In the conversation, Icarus says that Stickypedia is maintained by volunteers and not "renowned experts".
2 inaccurate: If something is "inaccurate", it is incorrect, untrue or inexact. Example: This article is INACCURATE - it says that Johnny Hallyday is popular outside France. In the dialogue, Hannah claims that Stickypedia is "full of inaccurate information".
3 knowledge: "Knowledge" is information, understanding, wisdom or an acquaintance with facts. Example: Scientists have the KNOWLEDGE to build a car that runs on lemonade. In the conversation, Icarus talks about "free knowledge" - information that is available to everyone at no cost.
4 maintained: "To maintain" is to keep in an existing state, or look after. Example: The garden is MAINTAINED by the gardener. In the dialogue, Icarus says that "Stickypedia is maintained by anonymous volunteers". This means that the online encyclopedia is looked after by volunteers who provide their time and services for free.
5 combined: If something is "combined" it is a combination or mixture of one or more components. Example: They COMBINED the five computers to make one super intelligent computer called HAL. In the conversation, Icarus says that "the combined knowledge of lots of people is better than the knowledge of a few experts".
Exercise 5
In the sentence, "If you do consent to this scheduled time, be aware that your pay will be docked for the duration of the meeting", which of the following words expresses a similar meaning to "docked"?
In the sentence, "If you do consent to this scheduled time, be aware that your pay will be docked for the duration of the meeting", which of the following words expresses a similar meaning to "docked"?
"Calculated" does not share a similar meaning with "docked".
To have your pay "docked" means that "money will be deducted" from your pay check. "Reduced" shares a similar meaning with the verb "to dock" in this context.
"Stationed" does not share a similar meaning to "docked" in this context.
"Maintained" does not share a similar meaning with "docked".

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