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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• infrastructural adjective

Etymology

Origin of infrastructure

First recorded in 1925–30; infra + structure

Example Sentences

He covers a range of topics including urban crime, small-town life, national politics, economic development and infrastructure.

From The Wall Street Journal

Much of that debt has been repaid through discounted oil shipments under an oil-for-loans framework, financing Chinese-backed infrastructure projects and helping stabilize successive Venezuelan governments.

From Los Angeles Times

"While we urgently need investment in our water and sewage infrastructure, we know that for many this increase will be difficult," said chief executive David Henderson.

From BBC

Capital expenses, including infrastructure such as data centers to power AI, were $22.14 billion in the quarter, according to the company.

From Barron's

The company said in October that it would double its data-center capacity in the next two years and spend more than it had previously projected on such AI infrastructure, including data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• base
• framework