upkeep

Definition

Maintenance; the act or effort of keeping something in good and working condition.

Etymology

From up + keep.

Example Sentences

• "I would enjoy having a swimming pool, but I don't want to deal with the upkeep."
• "[…] it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land, which saved a lot of labour on the upkeep of hedges and gates."
• "The story of upkeep has been never-ending. Between 1997-2000, a major programme of maintenance entailed replacing superstructure timbers - 50 main rail beams were replaced with greenheart, along with a similar number of edge beams."