utility

Word family

Related topics: Computers

u·til·i·ty /juːˈtɪləti/ AWL noun (plural utilities)

1 [countableC usually plural]SERVICES a service such as gas or electricity provided for people to use 公用事业〔如煤气、电力等〕

Does your rent include utilities?

你的房租包括公用事业费吗？

2 [countableC] a piece of computer software that has a particular use 〔计算机〕应用程序，实用程序

It’s a simple shareware utility that allows you to print signs and banners.

这是个简单的共享应用软件，你可以用它来打印标牌和横幅。

3. [uncountableU] formalUSEFUL the quality of being useful, or the degree to which something is useful 有用，实用性

Examples from the Corpus

utility• It was paced by auto, chemical and utility stocks.• Pareto is in no doubt that the two types of utility, for and of a community, do not necessarily coincide.• However, other utilities may also bid for PowerGen.• They were manufacturing, the finance, insurance and real estate group, transportation and public utilities and government.• Demonstrations allow customers to get an immediate idea of a product's utility.• I have severe doubts about the utility of examinations on subjects which have been learned parrot-fashion.• Monopolies in industries like railways and various utilities need breaking up.

From Longman Business Dictionary

utilityu·til·i·ty /juːˈtɪləti/ noun (plural utilities)

1[countableC usually plural]COMMERCE a large company that provides services such as gas or electricity

One major electric utility has already given layoff notices to 150 workers.

the public utilities

2[countableC usually plural] American EnglishAmECOMMERCE a service such as gas or electricity, provided for people to use

Does your rent include utilities?

3[countableC]computing a computer program that performs a simple action

There are several reasons why you might want to use a data compression utility.

Origin utility

(1300-1400) Old French utilité, from Latin utilitas, from utilis “useful”, from uti; → USE1

Chinese

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