utility

n. usefulness; use; public service; something useful; (Computers) utility program

adj. made for many practical uses or useful intentions; intended for service or practical use and not as a high quality; (USA) usable but inferior (of beef)

In economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction or desiredness from consumption of goods. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility. A theoretical unit of measurement for utility is the 'util'.
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Noun
1. a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation
(synonym) public utility, public-service corporation
(hypernym) service
(hyponym) telephone company, telephone service, phone company, phone service, telco
2. the quality of being of practical use
(synonym) usefulness
(antonym) inutility, uselessness, unusefulness
(hypernym) quality
(hyponym) detergency, detergence
(attribute) useful, utile
(derivation) use, utilize, utilise, apply, employ
3. the service provided by a utility company; "the cost of utilities never decreases"
(hypernym) service
4. (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice
(hypernym) system of measurement, metric
(hyponym) marginal utility
(classification) economics, economic science, political economy
5. (computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer; "a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users"
(synonym) utility program, service program
(hypernym) program, programme, computer program, computer programme
(hyponym) driver, device driver
(part-meronym) utility routine, service routine
(classification) computer science, computing
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; "the price of the house included all utilities"
(hypernym) facility, installation
(hyponym) electrical system, electrical plant
Adjective
1. used of beef; usable but inferior
(synonym) utility(a), utility-grade
(similar) inferior
2. capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team; "a utility infielder"
(synonym) utility(a), substitute(a)
(similar) secondary

n. utility

(n.)
The quality or state of being useful; usefulness; production of good; profitableness to some valuable end; as, the utility of manure upon land; the utility of the sciences; the utility of medicines.
  

(n.)
Happiness; the greatest good, or happiness, of the greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism.
  

(n.)
Adaptation to satisfy the desires or wants; intrinsic value. See Note under Value, 2.