[Common ironic mutation of "preveNTive maiNTenance"] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled iNTervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a field servoid who doesn' t know what he is doing such "maiNTenance" often *induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine' s remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amouNT of time. See also scratch monkey. [Jargon File]