» utility
Noun (6 meanings)
1. a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation.
utility, public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation
utility is a type of:
- service (noun) - a company or agency that performs a public service
types of utility:
- bus company, bus service (noun) - a public utility providing local transportation
- gas company, gas service (noun) - a public utility that provides gas
- power company, power service, electric company, light company (noun) - a public utility that provides electricity
- telephone company, telephone service, phone company, phone service, telco (noun) - a public utility that provides telephone service
- water company, waterworks (noun) - a public utility that provides water
2. the quality of being of practical use.
utility is the opposite of:
- inutility, uselessness, unusefulness (noun) - the quality of having no practical use
utility is a type of:
- quality (noun) -
types of utility:
- detergency, detergence (noun) - detergent quality
- function, purpose, role, use (noun) - what something is used for
- helpfulness (noun) - the property of providing useful assistance
- instrumentality (noun) - the quality of being instrumental for some purpose
- practicability, practicableness (noun) - the quality of being usable
- practicality (noun) - concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilities
- serviceability, serviceableness, usableness, useableness, usability (noun) - the quality of being able to provide good service
- use (noun) - a particular service
Attribute:
- useful, utile (adjective) - being of use or service
- useless (adjective) - having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
utility is derivationally related to:
- to use, utilize, utilise, apply, employ (verb) - put into service
- useful, utile (adjective) - being of use or service
- utilitarian, useful (adjective) - having a useful function
- utilitarian (adjective) - having utility often to the exclusion of values
3. the service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility.
Examples:
- “the cost of utilities never decreases”,
- “all the utilities were lost after the hurricane”
utility is a type of:
- service (noun) - work done by one person or group that benefits another
4. (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice.
utility is a type of:
- system of measurement, metric (noun) - a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic
types of utility:
- marginal utility (noun) - (economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or service
Domain of synset - TOPIC:
- economics, economic science, political economy (noun) - the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management
5. (computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer.
Example:
- “a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users”
utility is a type of:
- program, programme, computer program, computer programme (noun) - (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute
types of utility:
- diagnostic program (noun) - a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer program
- driver, device driver (noun) - (computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device
- input program (noun) - a utility program that organizes the input to a computer
- output program (noun) - a utility program that organizes the output of a computer
- sort program, sorting program (noun) - a utility program that sorts data items
- trace program (noun) - a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another program
parts of utility:
- utility routine, service routine (noun) - a routine that can be used as needed
Domain of synset - TOPIC:
- computer science, computing (noun) - the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures
6. 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.
Example:
- “the price of the house included all utilities”
utility is a type of:
- facility, installation (noun) - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry
types of utility:
- electrical system, electrical plant (noun) - utility that provides electricity
- heating system, heating plant, heating, heat (noun) - utility to warm a building
- plumbing, plumbing system (noun) - utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage
Adjective (2 meanings)
1. used of beef; usable but inferior.
utility is similar to:
- inferior (adjective) - of low or inferior quality
2. capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team.
Example:
- “a utility infielder”
Derivationally related form:
- substitute, reserve, second-stringer (noun) - an athlete who plays only when a starter on the team is replaced
utility is similar to:
- secondary (adjective) - being of second rank or importance or value