facility
Americannoun
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Often facilities
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something designed, built, installed, etc., to serve a specific function affording a convenience or service.
transportation facilities;
educational facilities;
a new research facility.
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something that permits the easier performance of an action, course of conduct, etc..
to provide someone with every facility for accomplishing a task;
to lack facilities for handling bulk mail.
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readiness or ease due to skill, aptitude, or practice; dexterity.
to compose with great facility.
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ready compliance.
Her facility in organizing and directing made her an excellent supervisor.
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an easy-flowing manner.
facility of style.
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the quality of being easily or conveniently done or performed.
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Informal. Often facilities a restroom, especially one for use by the public, as in a theater or restaurant.
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freedom from difficulty, controversy, misunderstanding, etc..
facility of understanding.
noun
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ease of action or performance; freedom from difficulty
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ready skill or ease deriving from practice or familiarity
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(often plural) the means or equipment facilitating the performance of an action
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rare easy-going disposition
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military an organization or building offering supporting capability
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(usually plural) a euphemistic word for lavatory
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of facility
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English facilite, from Middle French or directly from Latin facilitās; see facile, -ity
Explanation
Facility is a noun with several different meanings. Often, as in "storage facility," it's a place designed for a specific use, but it can also mean an effortlessness or ease with something. The new stadium is a great facility for showing off Olympic winter sports. At this level, all of the ice skaters show a facility that borders on magical. Likewise, the prison is a great facility for storing prisoners. Those prisoners showed a real facility for crime. Related to the French facile, which means "easy," a person who shows a facility for something makes it seem easy. This is cool, especially if that thing is difficult — or, as the French might say, difficile.
Vocabulary lists containing facility
Make Do: Fac
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Twelve Days in May
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If they develop such symptoms, the department statement said, they should call ahead to inform any healthcare provider or facility they plan to visit that they might have been exposed to the virus.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
However, the facility is oversubscribed and has been forced to turn fans away.
From BBC • Jun. 13, 2026
There is still plenty of excess capacity at SpaceX unit xAI’s Colossus 1 facility in Memphis, Tenn., beyond what will be used to service the new Anthropic and Google contracts, according to Anderson.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026
Once construction of the data center is complete, Meta will pay property taxes on the completed facility at a discounted rate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
My mom had told me there’d been plans to replace the thing with a wind-powered facility, but the project never got off the ground.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
