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ability Definition

abil·ity (ə bilə tē)

noun pl. -·ties

  1. a being able; power to do (something physical or mental)
  2. skill, expertness, or talent

Etymology: ME abilite < MFr habilité < L habilitas < habilis: see able

ability Synonyms

ability

n.

  1. Capacity to act

    aptitude, intelligence, innate qualities, capacity, sense, powers, potency, worth, talent, gift, genius, flair, mind for, ingenuity, bent, strength, understanding, faculty, comprehension, knack, makings, brains, head, what it takes*, the stuff*, the right stuff*, hang of*.

    Antonyms inability*, ineptitude, awkwardness.

  2. Power that results from capacity

    capability, eligibility, competence, proficiency, adeptness, qualification(s), knowledge, strength, sufficiency, self-sufficiency, efficacy, expertise, tact, finish, technique, craft, skill, artistry, cunning, expertness, skillfulness, aptness, dexterity, facility, finesse, mastery, quickness, cleverness, deftness, handiness, experience, readiness, adroitness, artifice, energy, background, know-how*, savvy*, touch*, the goods*.

    Antonyms ignorance*, incompetence, inexperience.

ability Usage Examples

Preposition: from

  • beginner: We are a friendly club which welcomes all runners and caters for all ages and abilities from beginners to County standard and beyond.

Converse of object

  • demonstrate: To demonstrate the ability to achieve full cost recovery in respect of Client Services.
  • possess: Martin has always possessed the unique ability to combine innovation and efficiency in lighting product development with quality and value.
  • lose: Blair is so far into the US pocket that he has completely lost the ability to be able to act independently of the US.
  • have: We have the ability to create whatever we want.
  • solve: Practical problem solving abilities and the willingness to learn new skills are essential in this post.
  • develop: The student will develop an ability to critically review the literature.

Adjective modifier

  • proven: Their background and proven teaching ability translated into courses offers an unparalleled standard of training.
  • cognitive: There was some evidence that, for cognitive ability, severity of deprivation was an important factor.
  • psychic: Raz has gatecrashed the camp as he's only too aware of how potent his psychic abilities are.
  • innate: Brilliant Sanity is our innate ability to accept and be with our experience without attachment, desire or judgment.
  • technical: However, intuition is no replacement for technical ability.
  • intellectual: Most notably, his intellectual abilities surpassed his physical ones.

Possessives

  • candidate: Applications for this award are very competitive, and are judged on one criterion; the candidate's outstanding academic ability and research potential.

Noun used with modifier

  • off-road: The disadvantage of this choice is the loss of the out and out off-road ability of your bike.
  • sporting: His legendary sporting ability carried on into College where he started a new passion - drinking.
  • healing: Crystals are used to aid the bodies own healing ability for physical, emotional and mental imbalances, which can lead to illness.
  • leadership: The event was a great success providing a unique opportunity for our senior managers to focus on enhancing their leadership abilities.
  • swimming: Additionally candidates will have to demonstrate swimming stamina ability.
  • people's: This approach makes use of most people's ability to determine sharp focus for themselves, minimizing the need for highly trained and scarce personnel.
ability Quotes

In the first place, most princes apply themselves to the arts of war, in which I have neither ability nor interest, instead of to the good arts of peace. Theyare generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms by hook or by crook than on governing well those that theyalready have.

—More, SirThomas

Nothing is so conducive to greatness of mind as the ability to examine systematically and honestly everything that meets us in life.

—Antoninus

   The making of a journalist: no ideas and the ability to express them.

—Kraus, Karl

   The greatest asset that a head of state can have is the ability to get a good night's sleep.

—Wilson of Rievaulx, (James) Harold Wilson, Baron

You haveto take chances for peace, just as you must take chances in war† The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessaryart. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.

—Dulles,John Foster

Sometimes it seems the onlyaccomplishment my education ever bestowed on me was the ability to think in quotations.

—Drabble, Margaret

Only in a higher phase of communist society†can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety, and society inscribe on its banners,'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!' See Bakunin 53:25.

—Marx, Karl Heinrich

Weare not going after Saddam Hussein.If I caneliminate his ability to communicate with his forces, I would be entirely satisfied with that result.

—Schwarzkopf, H Norman

Asthe strong man exults in his physical ability, delighting in such exercises as call his muscles into action, so glories the analyst in that moral activity which disentangles.

—Poe, EdgarAllan

Martyrdom†the only way in which a man can become famous without ability.

—Shaw, George Bernard

You lost yourability for doing things in childhood† It all beganwithyourinability toputonyoursocksand ended by your inability to live.

—Goncharov, Ivan Alexandrovich

Browse dictionary entries near ability

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