utility
Other forms: utilities
If you live in a place where the temperature never drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and someone gives you a snow-blower for your birthday, you might question the gift’s utility, meaning its “usefulness.”
Utility means “of practical use.” We refer to government facilities that provide water, electricity and natural gas as public utilities. Utility is similar to the word utilize, which is basically a stuffy word for use.
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the quality of being of practical usesynonyms: usefulnessantonyms:inutilitythe quality of having no practical usetypes:helpfulnessthe property of providing useful assistanceusea particular serviceserviceability, serviceableness, usability, usableness, useablenessthe quality of being able to provide good serviceinstrumentalitythe quality of being instrumental for some purposepracticalityconcerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilitiesraison d'etrethe purpose that justifies a thing's existencefunctionalitycapable of serving a purpose wellviabilitythe capacity to be done in a practical and useful waysensiblenessthe quality of showing good sense or practical judgmentpragmatism, realismthe attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring practicality and literal truthtype of:qualityan essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone
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(economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choicetypes:marginal utility(economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or servicetype of:metric, system of measurementa system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic
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used of beef; usable but inferiorsynonyms: utility-gradeinferiorof low or inferior quality
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a facility composed of one or more pieces of equipment connected to or part of a structure and designed to provide a service such as heat or electricity or water or sewage disposal“the price of the house included all utilities”types:plumbing, plumbing systemutility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewagecentral heatinga heating system in which air or water is heated at a central furnace and sent through the building via vents or pipes and radiatorsgas heatheating system that burns natural gaspanel heatingheating system consisting of wall or floor or baseboard or ceiling panels containing electric conductors or heating pipessteam heat, steam heatinga heating system in which steam is generated in boilers and piped to radiatorstype of:facility, installationa building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry
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the service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility“the cost of utilities never decreases”“all the utilities were lost after the hurricane”type of:servicework done by one person or group that benefits another
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a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulationtypes:phone company, phone service, telco, telephone company, telephone servicea public utility that provides telephone serviceelectric company, light company, power company, power servicea public utility that provides electricitytype of:servicea company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation
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(computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer“a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users”synonyms: service program, utility programtypes:device driver, driver(computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral devicediagnostic programa program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer programinput programa utility program that organizes the input to a computeroutput programa utility program that organizes the output of a computertrace programa utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another programsnapshot programa trace program that produces output for selected conditionstype of:computer program, computer programme, program, programme(computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute
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capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team“a utility infielder”synonyms: substitutesecondarybeing of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate
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Vocabulary lists containing utility
The full title of this declaration includes a focus on citizenship, and it was published two years after the declaration of rights for men and immediately after the National Assembly of France rejected a proposal to extend the rights to women. With an ironic tone, the writer and activist Olympe de Gouges dedicated it to Marie Antoinette, who -- as a woman -- was not seen as an equal. And, as a queen, she did nothing to promote gender equality (yet she was eventually given a trial and death sentence equal to that of King Louis XVI). While a postscript and form for a social contract are also included, the main structure and contents of this declaration parallel and parody its male counterpart. Compare these lists to hear the echoes. E-text available here. Here are links to our lists on rights: The Declaration of Independence, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Declaration of the Rights of Woman, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
If you have an appreciation for finance, budget some time to review this list of terms related to economics. You'll learn all about capitalism, markets, and stocks and bonds. Once you've mastered these words, your vocabulary will be one of your greatest assets.