Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

capacity

 - definition
 
 
 
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
noun [countable/uncountable] British English pronunciation: capacity /kəˈpæsəti/ 
Word Forms
Close
singularcapacity
pluralcapacities
  1. 1
    the amount of something that can be put in a container, or the number of people that a place has room for

    There are plans to increase the capacity of the stadium.

    capacity of:

    The fuel tanks have a capacity of 25,000 litres.

    a theatre with a seating capacity of 800

    a capacity crowd/audience (=a very large crowd/audience that completely fills a place):

    The game is set to attract a capacity crowd of 42,000.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of capacity
    1. a.
      computing the amount of information that can be stored on a computer or on a CD or floppy disk
      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of capacity
  2. 2
    the amount of goods that a company can produce, or the amount of work it can do

    New machinery could increase our production capacity by 25 per cent.

    The plant has a capacity of 120,000 tonnes per annum.

    The present rail network has plenty of spare capacity.

    at full capacity (=producing as many goods as possible, or doing as much work as possible):

    The factory is now operating at full capacity.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of capacity
    1. a.
      the amount of energy or power that something can produce
      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of capacity
  3. 3
    the ability to do something

    Her poor health limits her earning capacity.

    capacity to do something:

    They are worried about their capacity to invest for the future.

    capacity for:

    Harry had a tremendous capacity for work.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of capacity

phrase

This is the British English definition of capacity. View American English definition of capacity.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

electron

a part of an atom that moves around the nucleus (=centre) and has a negative electrical charge

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog