capacity
noun
ca·pac·i·ty
| \ kə-ˈpa-sə-tē
, -ˈpa-stē\
, -ˈpa-stē\
plural capacities
Definition of capacity
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: legal competency (see competence sense 1) or fitness
capacity to stand trial
2a
: the potential or suitability for holding, storing, or accommodating
a large seating capacity
b
: the maximum amount or number that can be contained or accommodated
a jug with a one-gallon capacity the auditorium was filled to capacity
— see Metric System Table, Weights and Measures Table
b
: the faculty or potential for treating, experiencing, or appreciating
capacity for love
5
: the facility or power to produce, perform, or deploy : capability
a plan to double the factory's capacity
also
: maximum output
industries running at three-quarter capacity
6a
: capacitance
b
: the quantity of electricity that a battery can deliver under specified conditions
capacity
adjectiveDefinition of capacity (Entry 2 of 2)
: equaling maximum capacity
a capacity crowd
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Synonyms for capacity
Synonyms: Noun
complement, cubage, real estate, volume
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Examples of capacity in a Sentence
Noun
The nightclub has a 1,000-person capacity. a bottle with a capacity of two liters Does he have the capacity to handle this job? The disease causes a deterioration of breathing capacity. He was acting in his capacity as judge. serving in a supervisory capacity
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Still, personal income is an important benchmark that shows changes in most of the earning capacity for a significant portion of the population. — Keith M. Phanuef, courant.com, "New report shows Connecticut still lags the nation in personal income growth," 13 Aug. 2019 The real sticky wicket in the Texas penal code, though, is not the bribery section but the one about abuse of official capacity. — Dallas News, "Guns dominate political conversation, Rangers investigate secret meeting, another Dem in Senate race," 13 Aug. 2019 The study also does not analyze county emergency response plans, which could compensate for weaknesses such as a lack of hospital capacity or low numbers of medical professionals. — Thomas Frank, Scientific American, "Southern U.S. Lags North on Disaster Resilience," 12 Aug. 2019 Viasat is building a constellation of three additional broadband satellites, each with a terabyte of broadband capacity. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Viasat gets boost from premium satellite Internet plans, government contracts," 9 Aug. 2019 Energy companies are itching to build solar farms near Intermountain and send the electricity to California by way of the power line, which will have plenty of unused capacity once the coal plant shuts down. — Los Angeles Times, "A clean energy breakthrough could be buried deep beneath rural Utah," 8 Aug. 2019 But online data first noticed by Alex Stamos, a former Facebook security chief now running the Stanford Internet Observatory, show that BitMitigate has only a fraction of Cloudflare’s server capacity. — Drew Harwell, Washington Post, "A defiant 8chan vowed to fight on, saying its ‘heartbeat is strong.’ Then a tech firm knocked it offline.," 5 Aug. 2019 Ergen said the new architecture the network will be built on offers a tremendous amount of capacity. — Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, "Dish wireless — a result of T-Mobile, Sprint merger — could give metro Denver a second shot at telecom glory," 31 July 2019 But at just over 400 seats, the high school theater has about a third of the capacity of the festival’s traditional outdoor venue, the Allen Elizabethan Theatre. — Jim Flint | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive.com, "Oregon Shakespeare Festival says its finances are strengthening as donations rise, ticket sales recover," 23 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'capacity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for capacity
capacity
noun
English Language Learners Definition of capacity
: the ability to hold or contain people or things
: the largest amount or number that can be held or contained
: the ability to do something : a mental, emotional, or physical ability
See the full definition for capacity in the English Language Learners Dictionary
capacity
noun
ca·pac·i·ty
| \ kə-ˈpa-sə-tē
\
\
plural capacities
Kids Definition of capacity
1
: ability to contain or deal with something
The room has a large seating capacity. Factories are working to capacity.
2
: mental or physical power
You have the capacity to do better.
3
: volume sense 3
The tank has a ten-gallon capacity.
4
: role sense 1, status
In your capacity as team captain, you can set a good example.
capacity
noun
ca·pac·i·ty
| \ kə-ˈpas-ət-ē, -ˈpas-tē
\
\
plural