capability

noun ca·pa·bil·i·ty \ ˌkā-pə-ˈbi-lə-tē \

Updated on: 26 Apr 2018

Definition of capability

plural capabilities

1 : the quality or state of being capable; also : ability

The mayor has demonstrated his capability to handle municipal problems.

2 : a feature or faculty capable of development : potentiality

This vacant urban district has great capabilities.

3 : the facility or potential for an indicated use or deployment

the capability of a metal to be fused

nuclear capability

See capability defined for English-language learners

Examples of capability in a Sentence

The device has the capability of recording two television channels at once.
the nature of the tasks to which you are assigned will depend on your capabilities

Recent Examples of capability from the Web

The drones, with surveillance and added striking capabilities, will have a range enabling them to reach a number of West and North African countries.

— Washington Post, "US builds drone base in Niger, crossroads of extremism fight," 23 Apr. 2018
The more realistic goal now is to freeze, reduce or contain North Korea's bellicose capabilities, but not eliminate them.

— tracy wilkinson, latimes.com, "Trump claims bragging rights on North Korea, but Kim also acting from position of strength," 22 Apr. 2018
Cables from the camera are connected to our bedroom television, and the camera has both daylight and infrared capability, allowing night vision.

— ernie cowan outdoors, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Watching this miracle is television series of season," 21 Apr. 2018
Discord’s backers are optimistic about the service’s moneymaking capabilities, considering the attractive videogame user base, said the person familiar with the deal.

— rolfe winkler and sarah e. needleman, WSJ, "Discord Valued At $1.65 Billion In New Funding Round," 19 Apr. 2018
Some speculate that the rumored iPhone SE 2 could have a glass back to allow wireless charging capabilities, as well as 4-inch size, A10 Fusion chips, and a slightly larger battery.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Lovers of small iPhones might be rewarded with rumored next-gen SE 2," 18 Apr. 2018
As cars get more connected, adding Wi-Fi and LTE capabilities, expect to see more shopping features and branded advertising included on the screens of vehicles.

— andrew j. hawkins, The Verge, "Chevy owners can now pay for gas from inside their cars," 18 Apr. 2018
That limited Assad’s capabilities, but as Wired explains, completely disarming him isn’t really possible.

— margaret hartmann, Daily Intelligencer, "What Really Happened in the Douma Chemical Attack?," 12 Apr. 2018
Cloud protections in place What’s new is that Microsoft has adapted its Files Restore capability—previously only for OneDrive for Business—and brought it into Office 365 subscriptions for home users.

— mark hachman, PCWorld, "Microsoft adds ransomware protections to make OneDrive and Outlook.com safer," 5 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'capability.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.