utility

u·til·i·ty  (y-tl-t)

n. pl. u·til·i·ties

1. The quality or condition of being useful; usefulness: "I have always doubted the utility of these conferences on disarmament" (Winston S. Churchill).

2. A useful article or device.

3.

a. A public utility.

b. A commodity or service, such as electricity, water, or public transportation, that is provided by a public utility.

4. Computer Science A utility program.

adj.

1. Used, serving, or working in several capacities as needed, especially:

a. Prepared to play any of the smaller theatrical roles on short notice: a utility cast member.

b. Capable of playing as a substitute in any of several positions: a utility infielder.

2. Designed for various often heavy-duty practical uses: a utility knife; a utility vehicle.

3. Raised or kept for the production of a farm product rather than for show or as pets: utility livestock.

4. Of the lowest U.S. Government grade: utility beef.

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[Middle English utilite, from Old French, from Latin tilits, from tilis, useful, from t, to use.]

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utility [juːˈtɪlɪtɪ]

n pl -ties

1.

a.  the quality of practical use; usefulness; serviceability

b.  (as modifier) a utility fabric

2. something useful

3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy)

a.  a public service, such as the bus system; public utility

b.  (as modifier) utility vehicle

4. (Economics) Economics

a.  the ability of a commodity to satisfy human wants

b.  the amount of such satisfaction Compare disutility

5. (Mathematics & Measurements / Statistics) Statistics

a.  a measure of the total benefit or disadvantage attaching to each of a set of alternative courses of action

b.  (as modifier) utility function See also expected utility, decision theory

6. (Engineering / Automotive Engineering) Also called utility truck (informal) ute Austral and NZ a small truck with an open body and low sides, often with a removable tarpaulin cover; pick-up

7. (Electronics & Computer Science / Computer Science) a piece of computer software designed for a routine task, such as examining or copying files

[from Old French utelite, from Latin ūtilitās usefulness, from ūtī to use]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	utility - a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation service - a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation phone company, phone service, telco, telephone company, telephone service - a public utility that provides telephone service electric company, light company, power company, power service - a public utility that provides electricity water company, waterworks - a public utility that provides water gas company, gas service - a public utility that provides gas bus company, bus service - a public utility providing local transportation
	2.	utility - the quality of being of practical use usefulness quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare detergence, detergency - detergent quality; the quality of having cleansing power function, purpose, use, role - what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" helpfulness - the property of providing useful assistance use - a particular service; "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses" serviceability, serviceableness, usability, usableness, useableness - the quality of being able to provide good service instrumentality - the quality of being instrumental for some purpose practicality - concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilities practicability, practicableness - the quality of being usable inutility, unusefulness, uselessness - the quality of having no practical use
	3.	utility - 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" service - work done by one person or group that benefits another; "budget separately for goods and services"
	4.	utility - (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice economic science, economics, political economy - the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management system of measurement, metric - a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic marginal utility - (economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or service
	5.	utility - (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" service program, utility program computer science, computing - the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures computer program, computer programme, programme, program - (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; "the program required several hundred lines of code" device driver, driver - (computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device diagnostic program - a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer program input program - a utility program that organizes the input to a computer output program - a utility program that organizes the output of a computer sort program, sorting program - a utility program that sorts data items trace program - a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another program service routine, utility routine - a routine that can be used as needed
	6.	utility - 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" electrical plant, electrical system - utility that provides electricity facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the assembly plant is an enormous facility" heating plant, heating system, heating, heat - utility to warm a building; "the heating system wasn't working"; "they have radiant heating" plumbing, plumbing system - utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage
Adj.	1.	utility - used of beef; usable but inferior utility-grade inferior - of low or inferior quality
	2.	utility - capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team; "a utility infielder" substitute secondary - being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams"

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utility

noun usefulness, use, point, benefit, service, profit, fitness, convenience, mileage (informal), avail, practicality, efficacy, advantageousness, serviceableness He inwardly questioned the utility of his work.

Translations

utility [juːˈtɪlɪtɪ]

A. N

1. (= usefulness) → utilidad f

2. (also public utility) → servicio m público

B. CPD → utilitario
utility player N (Sport) → jugador(a) m/f polivalente
utility room N → lavadero m
utility vehicle N → furgoneta f, camioneta f

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utility [juːˈtɪləti] n

(= usefulness) → utilité f

(also public utility) → service m public
utility room n → buanderie f
utility vehicle n → véhicule m utilitaire

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utility

n

(= usefulness) → Nützlichkeit f, → Nutzen m

public utility (= company) → Versorgungsbetrieb m; (= service) → Leistung f → der Versorgungsbetriebe; the utilities → versorgungswirtschaftliche Einrichtungen pl

(Comput) → Utility nt, → Hilfs- or Dienstprogramm nt

(Austral: = utility vehicle) → Kleintransporter m

attr utility industry → Versorgungsindustrie f; utility goods → Gebrauchsgüter pl; utility furniture im 2. Weltkrieg in Großbritannien hergestellte Möbel, die einfach, aber zweckmäßig waren

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utility:

utility box

n (for nails, screws etc) → Kleinteilemagazin nt

utility company

n → Versorgungsbetrieb m

utility man

n (US) → Mädchen nt → für alles (inf)

utility player

n (Sport) → Spieler, der/Spielerin, die auf mehreren Positionen spielen kann

utility program

n (Comput) → Hilfsprogramm nt, → Dienstprogramm nt

utility room

n → Allzweckraum m

utility software

n (Comput) → Hilfssoftware f, → Utility-Software f

utility vehicle

n → Kleintransporter nt, → kleiner Lieferwagen

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utility [juːˈtɪlɪtɪ] n (usefulness) → utilità (also public utility) → servizio pubblico

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utility [juːˈtɪlɪtɪ] n (usefulness) → utilità (also public utility) → servizio pubblico

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utility

n utility [juˈtiləti]

1 usefulness Some kitchen gadgets have only a limited utility. nut مَنْفَعَه، فائِدَه полза užitečnost anvendelighed die Nützlichkeit χρησιμότητα utilidad kasulikkus, kasutatavus کارایی käyttökelpoisuus utilité תוֹעֶלֶת उपयोगिता iskoristivost hasznosság gagnsemi, nytsemi utilità 有用性 유용 naudingumas derīgums; pielietojums kebergunaan nut nytte, anvendelighet użyteczność utilidade utilitate полезность; пригодность úžitok uporabnost upotreba [] nytta, användbarhet สิ่งที่เป็นประโยชน์ yarar, fayda 用處 корисність; вигідність افاديت tính hữu dụng 效用

2 a useful public service, eg the supply of water, gas, electricity etc. munisipale diens مَصْلَحَة خِدْمَة عامَّه комунални услуги (veřejné) služby ydelse öffentlicher Versorgungsbetrieb υπηρεσία κοινής ωφέλειας empresa de servicio público üldkasutatav teenus خدمات شهری julkinen palvelu service public שֵׁירוּת צִיבּוּרִי उपयोगी सार्वजनिक सेवा komunalna služba közmű almenningsþjónustufyrirtæki (servizio pubblico) 公益事業 (철도, 전기, 전화 등과 같은) 공익 사업 komunalinė paslauga (komunāls) pakalpojums kemudahan awam voorziening offentlige tjenester (vann, kloakk, gass, elektrisitet) zakład użyteczności publicznej serviço público serviciu public коммунальные услуги (verejné) služby javna služba komunalije samhällsservice, allmän nyttighet สาธารณูปโภค kamu hizmeti 提供水電瓦斯等的公用事業 комунальні підприємства افادۂ عام ngành phục vụ công cộng 公用事业

adj uˌtiliˈtarian

useful rather than ornamental Our plates and glasses are utilitarian rather than beautiful. eenvoudig, nuttig نَفْعي полезен užitkový funktionel nützlich πρακτικός, λειτουργικός utilitario praktiline دارای کارایی؛ کارور käytännöllinen utilitaire שִימוּשִי सजावटी के बजाय उपयोगी होना, उपयोग संबंधी koristan praktikus sem hefur notagildi/gerir gagn pratico, funzionale 実用的な 실용적인 utilitarinis, praktinis utilitārs; pielietojams utilitarian utilitair funksjonell, nyttepreget utylitarny utilitário utilitar утилитарный úžitkový uporaben, koristen utilitaristički ändamålsenlig, praktisk ซึ่งนึกถึงประโยชน์ใช้สอยเป็นสำคัญ yararcı, faydacı 實用的 утилітарний افاديت والا، مفيد vị lợi , thiết thực 实用的