UTILITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does utility mean? 

• UTILITY (noun)
  The noun UTILITY has 6 senses:

1. a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation

2. the quality of being of practical use

3. the service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility

4. (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice

5. (computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer

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

  Familiarity information: UTILITY used as a noun is common.

• UTILITY (adjective)
  The adjective UTILITY has 2 senses:

1. used of beef; usable but inferior

2. capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team

  Familiarity information: UTILITY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UTILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

public-service corporation; public utility; public utility company; utility

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

service (a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation)

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

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The quality of being of practical use

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

usefulness; utility

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

quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)

Attribute:

useful; utile (being of use or service)

useless (having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully)

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

detergence; detergency (detergent quality; the quality of having cleansing power)

function; purpose; role; use (what something is used for)

helpfulness (the property of providing useful assistance)

use (a particular service)

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)

Antonym:

inutility (the quality of having no practical use)

Derivation:

utile (being of use or service)

utilise (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

utilitarian (having a useful function)

utilitarian (having utility often to the exclusion of values)

utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

all the utilities were lost after the hurricane

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

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

Sense 4

Meaning:

(economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

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

metric; system of measurement (a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic)

Domain category:

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)

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

marginal utility ((economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or service)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

service program; utility; utility program

Context example:

a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users

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

computer program; computer programme; program; programme ((computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute)

Meronyms (parts of "utility"):

service routine; utility routine (a routine that can be used as needed)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

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

device driver; driver ((computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device)

trace program (a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another program)

sort program; sorting program (a utility program that sorts data items)

output program (a utility program that organizes the output of a computer)

input program (a utility program that organizes the input to a computer)

diagnostic program (a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer program)

Sense 6

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the price of the house included all utilities

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

facility; installation (a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry)

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

heat; heating; heating plant; heating system (utility to warm a building)

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)

electrical plant; electrical system (utility that provides electricity)

• UTILITY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Used of beef; usable but inferior

Synonyms:

utility; utility-grade

Similar:

inferior (of low or inferior quality)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team

Synonyms:

substitute; utility

Context example:

a utility infielder

Similar:

secondary (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate)

 Context examples 

IL24 may have utility for gene-based therapy of diverse human cancers through the induction of p53 independent apoptosis.

(IL24 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

She knew herself to be of the first utility to the child; and what was it to her if Frederick Wentworth were only half a mile distant, making himself agreeable to others?

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Clinical evaluation of the utility of diagnostic procedures.

(Clinical Trials, Diagnosis, NCI Thesaurus)

I have lost my hopes of utility and glory; I have lost my friend.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Lady Bertram's being just on the other side of the table was a trifle, for she might always be considered as only half-awake, and Edmund's advertisements were still of the first utility.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Jo's funny hat deserved a vote of thanks, for it was of general utility.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Thus, it has found utility as a drug for those needing to replenish erythrocytes for any number of reasons.

(EPO Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

"And here's where beauty and utility fall out," was her reply.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A simple non-quantitative form of interference microscopy of great utility in visualising live cells.

(Phase-Contrast Microscopy, NCI Thesaurus)

In addition, the scientists have found that sesame antibody testing — whose utility has been controversial — accurately predicts whether a child with food allergy is allergic to sesame.

(17% of Food-Allergic Children Have Sesame Allergy, National Institutes of Health)