scalable

adjective

scal·able | \ ˈskā-lə-bəl

Definition of scalable

1 : capable of being scaled

2 : capable of being easily expanded or upgraded on demand a scalable computer network

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Examples of scalable in a Sentence

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So the typical cost for a subway, per-mile cost for a subway in the U.S. has been about a billion dollars a mile, so that is not a very scalable solution. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Full Q&A: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Recode Decode," 2 Nov. 2018 Right now, Santo is working with 2-liter tanks, and one of the big questions of clean meat is how scalable the process is. — Tamar Haspel, Vox, "Lab-grown meat and the fight over what it can be called, explained," 31 Aug. 2018 One of the goals of UrbanSense is to offer scalable tools to smaller, second-tier cities that may not have the resources for vast smart city redesigns. — Emily Strasser, Curbed, "A secret city opens up," 8 Aug. 2018 As well as the boost to speed, the hive-grid-machine has the advantages of being scalable and modular. — James Vincent, The Verge, "Welcome to the automated warehouse of the future," 8 May 2018 Practical, hardworking, and responsible, the 4 vibration is focused on creating logical systems that can support scalable growth. — Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, "The Basics of Numerology: How to Calculate Your Life Path and Destiny Numbers," 16 July 2018 SVP Miami will select high-impact, scalable socially minded ventures, both for- and non-profit, based in South Florida and provide them with up to $100,000 and pro-bono expert support over the course of several years. — Rob Wile, miamiherald, "Got a social-minded venture? You'll want to apply to this," 11 June 2018 The design would support 52 electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles per hour, per module in a scalable framework that could facilitate more than 600 arrivals and departures and 4,000 people per hour by 2028. — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, "These Uber Air ‘Skyport’ concepts look straight out of Star Wars," 9 May 2018 But the technique could be more scalable than leading approaches for reconstructing sports in 3D, which require arrays of cameras around the pitch recording every angle. — Edd Gent, Science | AAAS, "Watch artificial intelligence project a 3D soccer match on your kitchen table," 12 June 2018

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

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Last Updated

18 Apr 2019

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The first known use of scalable was circa 1580

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More Definitions for scalable

scalability

noun

Financial Definition of scalability

What It Is

Scalability refers to a company's ability to increase its production profitably.

How It Works

Let's assume it costs Company XYZ $1 million to produce 1 million widgets per year ($1 per widget). This $1 million cost includes $500,000 of administrative, insurance and marketing expenses, which are generally fixed. If Company XYZ decides to produce 2 million widgets next year, its total production costs may only rise to $1.5 million ($0.75 per widget) because it can spread its fixed costs over more units. This means Company XYZ has scalability. Although Company XYZ's total costs increase from $1 million to $1.5 million, each widget becomes less expensive to produce and therefore more profitable.

The idea of scalability is based on economies of scale, which refers to the reduction of per-unit costs through an increase in production volume.

Why It Matters

Operational efficiencies create scalability. These efficiencies often are the result of division or specialization of labor, reorganization of key processes, the implementation of new technology, and bulk materials purchases.

Scalability is a huge competitive advantage. A lack of it can discourage new competitors from entering a market or eliminate smaller competitors. This is why it can lead to an oligopoly, where only a few companies produce the majority of an industry's output. Sometimes scalability can even lead one company to dominate an industry; this is called a natural monopoly.

Source: Investing Answers

scalable

adjective