infrastructure

American  

[in-fruh-struhk-cher] / ˈɪn frəˌstrʌk tʃər /

noun

1. the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools.

   Investments in infrastructure helped the U.S. economy recover from the Great Depression.

2. the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization.

   Over the years, as the incidence of cancer increased, the infrastructure of the hospital was developed to accommodate the new cases.

   Synonyms:

   support, foundation, basis

3. the military installations of a country.

   We could do much with just a fraction of the billions spent to maintain our robust overseas infrastructure.

---

infrastructure British  

/ ˈɪnfrəˌstrʌktʃə /

noun

1. the basic structure of an organization, system, etc

2. the stock of fixed capital equipment in a country, including factories, roads, schools, etc, considered as a determinant of economic growth

---

Other Word Forms

• infrastructural adjective

Etymology

Origin of infrastructure

First recorded in 1925–30; infra + structure

Example Sentences

The proposal also urges restoring “normal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz and safeguarding civilian sites and critical infrastructure, including energy, desalination and power facilities, as well as peaceful nuclear infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal

But metals businesses like it, along with fertilizer and chemical enterprises, are now competitive global players because Gulf governments invested in hard and soft infrastructure adjacent to the oil business.

From The Wall Street Journal

At the same time, countries have added new hydropower and other infrastructure below them.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Where a screening programme expands its eligibility, it is important that the associated infrastructure, including diagnostic capacity, workforce and any treatments that may be required, are aligned," it added.

From BBC

Oracle is one of the largest tech companies in the world and it offers software and cloud computing infrastructure to other companies.

From BBC

Related Words

• base
• framework