utility

u·til·i·ty

U0161400 (yo͞o-tĭl′ĭ-tē)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. Computers A utility program.5. Economics The benefit that a chosen course of action affords, as subjectively judged by the chooser.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 US Government grade: utility beef.

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[Middle English utilite, from Old French, from Latin ūtilitās, from ūtilis, useful, from ūtī, to use.]

utility

(juːˈtɪlɪtɪ) n, pl -ties1. a. the quality of practical use; usefulness; serviceabilityb. (as modifier): a utility fabric. 2. something useful3. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a. a public service, such as the bus system; public utilityb. (as modifier): utility vehicle. 4. (Economics) economics a. the ability of a commodity to satisfy human wantsb. the amount of such satisfaction. See disutility5. (Statistics) statistics a. a measure of the total benefit or disadvantage attaching to each of a set of alternative courses of actionb. (as modifier): utility function. See also expected utility, decision theory6. (Automotive Engineering) Also called: utility truck or ute (informal)Austral and NZ a small truck with an open body and low sides, often with a removable tarpaulin cover; pick-up7. (Computer Science) a piece of computer software designed for a routine task, such as examining or copying files[C14: from Old French utelite, from Latin ūtilitās usefulness, from ūtī to use]

u•til•i•ty

(yuˈtɪl ɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties,
adj. n. 1. the state or quality of being useful; usefulness. 2. something useful; a useful thing. 3. a public service, as the providing of electricity, gas, water, a telephone system, or bus and railroad lines. 4. public utility. 5. Often, utilities. a useful or advantageous factor or feature. 6. the capacity of a commodity or a service to satisfy some human want. 7. utility program. 8. utilities, stocks or bonds of public utilities. adj. 9. (of domestic animals) raised or kept as potentially profitable products rather than for show or as pets. 10. designed for a number of practical purposes rather than a single, specialized one: a utility knife. 11. capable of serving in any of various capacities: a utility player on a baseball team. 12. designed chiefly for use or service rather than beauty, high quality, etc.: utility furniture. [1350–1400; Middle English < Old French < Latin ūtil(is) useful]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	utility - a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulationpublic utility, public utility company, public-service corporationservice - a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulationphone company, phone service, telco, telephone company, telephone service - a public utility that provides telephone serviceelectric company, light company, power company, power service - a public utility that provides electricitywater company, waterworks - a public utility that provides watergas company, gas service - a public utility that provides gasbus company, bus service - a public utility providing local transportation
	2.	utility - the quality of being of practical useusefulnessquality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespearedetergence, detergency - detergent quality; the quality of having cleansing powerfunction, 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 assistanceuse - 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 serviceinstrumentality - the quality of being instrumental for some purposepracticality - concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilitiespracticability, practicableness - the quality of being usableinutility, 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 choiceeconomic science, economics, political economy - the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their managementsystem of measurement, metric - a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristicmarginal 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 programcomputer science, computing - the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structurescomputer 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 devicediagnostic program - a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer programinput program - a utility program that organizes the input to a computeroutput program - a utility program that organizes the output of a computersort program, sorting program - a utility program that sorts data itemstrace program - a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another programservice 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 electricityfacility, 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 inferiorutility-gradeinferior - of low or inferior quality
	2.	utility - capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team; "a utility infielder"substitutesecondary - 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"

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.

utility

nounThe quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end:account, advantage, avail, benefit, profit, use, usefulness.

Translations

公用事业效用

utility

(juˈtiləti) – plural uˈtilities – noun1. usefulness. Some kitchen gadgets have only a limited utility. 用處 效用2. a useful public service, eg the supply of water, gas, electricity etc. 提供水電瓦斯等的公用事業 公用事业uˌtiliˈtarian adjective useful rather than ornamental. Our plates and glasses are utilitarian rather than beautiful. 實用的 实用的