# facility

/fəˈsɪɫɪti/ (US) · /fəsˈɪlɪti/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/facility
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. amenities or equipment

noun · CEFR B1

the buildings, equipment, or services that are provided for a particular purpose.

For teachers: the physical infrastructure, equipment, or services provided to facilitate a specific activity or public need.

- The hotel has excellent leisure facilities, including a gym and a heated swimming pool.
- The local council invested heavily in upgrading the town's recycling facilities to meet new environmental standards.

### 2. a specialized building

noun · CEFR B2

a building or place that is designed for a specific job or activity.

For teachers: a discrete building, complex, or site designed for a specific institutional, industrial, or military function.

- The company is building a new research facility just outside the city.
- The high-security facility was designed to house sensitive data servers while maintaining a minimal carbon footprint.

### 3. natural talent or ease

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

a natural ability to do something easily and well.

For teachers: an aptitude or skill that allows for the effortless performance of a task.

- She has an amazing facility for learning new languages in just a few months.
- His remarkable facility with mathematics allowed him to solve the complex equations while his peers were still reading the prompt.

Usage: Often followed by the preposition 'for'.

### 4. financial credit

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

an arrangement with a bank that allows a person or company to borrow money.

For teachers: a formal arrangement between a financial institution and a client, such as an overdraft or line of credit.

- The bank granted the small business a credit facility to help with their monthly costs.
- The corporation negotiated a multi-currency revolving credit facility to ensure liquidity during the merger process.

### 5. a toilet

noun · CEFR B2 · Formal · American English

a polite way to talk about a toilet or bathroom in a public place.

For teachers: a euphemistic term for a restroom or lavatory, typically used in the plural.

- Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest facilities are?
- The event organizers failed to provide adequate facilities for the thousands of spectators who attended the outdoor concert.

Usage: Almost always used in the plural form 'facilities'.

## Examples

- The new sports facility includes a swimming pool.
- The city invested in a modern recycling facility to handle the growing amount of plastic waste from local households.
- While the research facility offers state-of-the-art equipment, it is the lead scientist's facility for complex data analysis that truly drives the project's success.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.
