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Maintain vs Clam - What's the difference?

maintain | clam |

As verbs the difference between maintain and clam

is that maintain is (obsolete|transitive) to support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action while clam is to dig for clams or clam can be to produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang or clam can be to be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.

As a noun clam is

a bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (, a huge east indian bivalve or clam can be a crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once or clam can be clamminess; moisture.

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

    Related terms

    * maintainer * maintenance

    Antonyms

    * (to keep up) abandon

    Anagrams

    *

    clam

    English

    (wikipedia clam)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; as, the long clam (, a huge East Indian bivalve.
  • * , chapter=3
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams' thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. ' Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • Strong pincers or forceps.
  • A kind of vise, usually of wood.
  • (US, slang) A dollar (usually used in the plural). Possibly originating from the term wampum.
  • (slang, derogatory) A Scientologist.
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, year=1998, date=23 February, author=
    • jesparolini, title=CO$ Celebrities: USEFUL IDIOTS citation

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To dig for clams.

    • Derived terms

    * American jackknife clam * Atlantic jackknife clam * bamboo clam * clam chowder * clamshell * clam up * giant clam * piss clam * razor clam

    See also

    * clammy

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A crash or clangor made by ringing all the bells of a chime at once.
    • (Nares)

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To produce, in bellringing, a clam or clangor; to cause to clang.
    • (Nares)

    Etymology 3

    Noun

  • clamminess; moisture
  • * Carlyle
    • The clam of death.

    Verb

    (clamm)
  • To be moist or glutinous; to stick; to adhere.
    • (Dryden)
  • To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter.
  • * L'Estrange
    • A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed themselves till there was no getting out again.
    (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----