infrastructure

[ in-fruh-struhk-cher ]

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

/ 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 Words From

• in·fra·struc·tur·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of infrastructure¹

First recorded in 1925–30; infra + structure

Example Sentences

Perigee founder Mollie Breen used to work for NSA where she built a security solution to help protect the agency’s critical infrastructure.

From TechCrunch

The program, enacted by Congress in 2014, is intended to help accelerate water infrastructure upgrades at low interest rates, which tend to be expensive and not necessarily lucrative for a city.

From Voice of San Diego

Industry has brought paved roads, better schools, and modern information infrastructure.

From Nautilus

Even as it competes with the likes of Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, the company is still dependent on infrastructure from, yes, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

From Fortune

There’s a lot of complexity in the infrastructure and integration of these enterprise systems.

From Fortune

Instead, the Republicans should tie their push for infrastructure to getting folks off the couch and back to work.

From The Daily Beast

Next, the GOP should hammer away at how our roads, bridges, and tunnels are crumbling, and push for an infrastructure initiative.

From The Daily Beast

For aesthetic reasons, ski resort operators try to limit the noise and infrastructure associated with producing power.

From The Daily Beast

The details of his emerging campaign infrastructure are as atypical as the man himself.

From The Daily Beast

The NSA had already built the infrastructure to tap into communications networks.

From The Daily Beast

And they may accomplish this without the expensive infrastructure of electrical power grids that we take for granted in America.

From Project Gutenberg

This technology infrastructure is dimensions larger in number and scope than the aggregate of anywhere else in the world.

From Project Gutenberg

To secure our border, we're doubling the size of the Border Patrol, and funding new infrastructure and technology.

From Project Gutenberg

To advance this concept, technology and its infrastructure and application are vital.

From Project Gutenberg

True, this calls for massive initial investments in physical infrastructure.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• base
• framework