FACILITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does facility mean? 

• FACILITY (noun)
  The noun FACILITY has 5 senses:

1. a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry

2. skillful performance or ability without difficulty

3. a natural effortlessness

4. something designed and created to serve a particular function and to afford a particular convenience or service

5. a service that an organization or a piece of equipment offers you

  Familiarity information: FACILITY used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FACILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

facility; installation

Context example:

the assembly plant is an enormous facility

Hypernyms ("facility" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "facility"):

airfield; field; flying field; landing field (a place where planes take off and land)

water; water supply; water system (a facility that provides a source of water)

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)

transit; transportation; transportation system (a facility consisting of the means and equipment necessary for the movement of passengers or goods)

station (a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose)

source (a facility where something is available)

sewage system; sewage works; sewer system (facility consisting of a system of sewers for carrying off liquid and solid sewage)

recreation facility; recreational facility (a public facility for recreation)

range (a place for shooting (firing or driving) projectiles of various kinds)

grid; power grid; power system (a system of high tension cables by which electrical power is distributed throughout a region)

military installation (any facility servicing military forces)

menagerie; zoo; zoological garden (the facility where wild animals are housed for exhibition)

gas system (facility (plant and equipment) for providing natural-gas service)

assembly; forum; meeting place (a public facility to meet for open discussion)

drive-in (any installation designed to accommodate patrons in their automobiles)

deposit; depositary; depository; repository (a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping)

course (facility consisting of a circumscribed area of land or water laid out for a sport)

communication equipment; communication system (facility consisting of the physical plants and equipment for disseminating information)

cafeteria facility ((usually plural) facilities for providing food for employees or visitors)

backroom (the meeting place of a group of leaders who make their decisions via private negotiations)

athletic facility (a facility for athletic events)

arboretum; botanical garden (a facility where trees and shrubs are cultivated for exhibition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Skillful performance or ability without difficulty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

adeptness; adroitness; deftness; facility; quickness

Context example:

he was famous for his facility as an archer

Hypernyms ("facility" is a kind of...):

skillfulness (the state of being cognitively skillful)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "facility"):

touch (deftness in handling matters)

dexterity; manual dexterity; sleight (adroitness in using the hands)

Derivation:

facile (performing adroitly and without effort)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A natural effortlessness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

facility; readiness

Context example:

a happy readiness of conversation

Hypernyms ("facility" is a kind of...):

effortlessness (the quality of requiring little effort)

Derivation:

facile (expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Something designed and created to serve a particular function and to afford a particular convenience or service

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

educational facilities

Hypernyms ("facility" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "facility"):

comfort station; convenience; public convenience; public lavatory; public toilet; restroom; toilet facility; wash room (a toilet that is available to the public)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A service that an organization or a piece of equipment offers you

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

a cell phone with internet facility

Hypernyms ("facility" is a kind of...):

service (work done by one person or group that benefits another)

 Context examples 

A facility to perform high-throughput genotyping and sequencing to support genetic analysis for a broad range of projects.

(Core Genotyping Facility, NCI Thesaurus)

An individual who is presently or not long ago worked or offered to assist without pay at a temporary housing facility for persons without a stable or permanent residence.

(Current or Recent Employee or Volunteer in Homeless Shelter, NCI Thesaurus)

The scientists used the Free Air Concentration Enrichment facility at the University of Illinois to track the real-world consequences of higher atmospheric ozone levels in an agricultural field.

(Study finds rising ozone a hidden threat to corn, National Science Foundation)

A residential health care facility for persons with chronic illness or disability.

(Nursing home, NCI Thesaurus)

Moreover, Embrapa's old stock of over 124,000 seeds will relocate to the new facility.

(LatAm's largest gene bank unveiled in Brasília, Agência BRASIL)

A shared facility which provides services for oligonucleotide synthesis.

(Oligonucleotide Synthesis Facility, NCI Thesaurus)

An office within the National Institutes of Health that supports the organization's mission by providing, maintaining, and operating safe, healthy, and attractive facilities.

(Offices of Research Facilities Development and Operations, NCI Thesaurus)

Nearly 3 billion people lack handwashing facilities with soap and water at home, while 900 million school children, as well as one in six health care facilities, have no basic hygiene services.

(Slightly dirty water ‘still ok’ against coronavirus, SciDev.Net)

The NIH scientists, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Montana facility at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, compared how the environment affects SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1, which causes SARS.

(New coronavirus stable for hours on surface, National Institutes of Health)

A shared facility which maintains a breeding stock of animals in a disease-free state.

(Animal Barrier Facility, NCI Thesaurus)