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Maintain vs Change - What's the difference?

maintain | change |

As verbs the difference between maintain and change

is that maintain is to support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action while change is to become something different.

As a noun change is

the process of becoming different.

maintain

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
  • *:
  • *:And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle / and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man
  • To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).
  • *, chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 5, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= QPR 2-3 Man City , passage=Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Nancy Langston, volume=101, issue=2, page=98
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Mining the Boreal North , passage=Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.}}
  • To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."}}

    Derived terms

    * maintainability

    Antonyms

    * (to keep up) abandon

    Anagrams

    *

    change

    English

    Verb

    (chang)
  • To become something different.
  • (ergative) To make something into something different.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=The climate of Tibet: Pole-land
  • , date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=80 , magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus.
  • To replace.
  • To replace one's clothing.
  • To transfer to another vehicle (train, bus, etc.)
  • (archaic) To exchange.
  • * 1610 , , by (William Shakespeare), act 1 scene 2
  • At the first sight / they have changed eyes. (exchanged looks )
  • * 1662 , Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2):
  • I would give any thing to change a word or two with this person.
  • To change hand while riding (a horse).
  • to change a horse

    Synonyms

    * (to make something different) alter, modify * (to make something into something different) transform

    Derived terms

    * changeable * change by reversal * change course * change direction * changeful * change out * change hands * change horses in midstream * change integrity * changeling * change one's mind * change one's tune * change places * change tack * change the channel * change the subject * change up * chop and change * everchanging * get changed * leopard change his spots * presto change-o *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) The process of becoming different.
  • * {{quote-magazine, title=The climate of Tibet: Pole-land
  • , date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=80 , magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change , the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.}}
    The product is undergoing a change in order to improve it.
  • (uncountable) Small denominations of money given in exchange for a larger denomination.
  • Can I get change for this $100 bill please?
  • (countable) A replacement, e.g. a change of clothes
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2010 , date=December 29 , author=Mark Vesty , title=Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=After beating champions Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting XI in an effort to freshen things up, with games against Birmingham and Manchester City to come in the next seven days.}}
  • (uncountable) Money given back when a customer hands over more than the exact price of an item.
  • A customer who pays with a 10-pound note for a £9 item receives one pound in change .
  • (countable) A transfer between vehicles.
  • The train journey from Bristol to Nottingham includes a change at Birmingham.
  • (baseball) A change-up pitch.
  • (lb) Any order in which a number of bells are struck, other than that of the diatonic scale.
  • * Holder
  • Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.
  • A place where merchants and others meet to transact business; an exchange.
  • A public house; an alehouse.
  • * Burt
  • They call an alehouse a change .

    Usage notes

    * Adjectives often applied to "change": big, small, major, minor, dramatic, drastic, rapid, slow, gradual, radical, evolutionary, revolutionary, abrupt, sudden, unexpected, incremental, social, economic, organizational, technological, personal, cultural, political, technical, environmental, institutional, educational, genetic, physical, chemical, industrial, geological, global, local, good, bad, positive, negative, significant, important, structural, strategic, tactical.

    Synonyms

    (the process of becoming different) transition, transformation

    Derived terms

    * and change * breaking change * bureau de change * chump change * cool change * change agent * change key * change-off * change of heart * change of innings * change of life * change of mind * change of state * change order * change ringing * change-up * chemical change * chump change * climate change * deflection change * fatty change * net change * oil change * phase change * quick-change * regime change * sea change * seed change * sex change * shortchange * small change * sound change * spare change * step change * technological change * the change

    See also

    * modification * mutation * evolution * exchange * reorganization

    References

    *