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

"With no sign of prices easing largely due to demand for AI infrastructure, Sony will have made the move to protect its slim hardware margins," said Harding-Rolls.

From BBC

The post revealed that Anthropic is releasing the model in early access to cyber defenders to help them improve their infrastructure.

From MarketWatch

Actually, that comparison was made by New York infrastructure czar Robert Moses; Mr. Gittlitz fits in a venerable tradition.

From The Wall Street Journal

The country also faces rising domestic demand, as well as problems with aging gas infrastructure that have slowed down production.

From The Wall Street Journal

"We have reassessed our future revenue forecasts, basing them on the actual state of our infrastructure," she said.

From Barron's

Related Words

• base
• framework