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

The extent of the disruption to the petroleum infrastructure in the Middle East will fundamentally change oil supply, which will mean higher costs over time, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal

“There is no clean analog for a disruption of this size moving through such a strategically vital artery, with multiple state actors, military uncertainty and global energy infrastructure all tied into the same risk knot.”

From MarketWatch

The cost savings from AI allow the company to reinvest in expenses such as AI infrastructure, tokens and AI-native employees, she said.

From The Wall Street Journal

It was another incident drawing attention to the nation’s air travel infrastructure after a weekend of long security checkpoint lines that dominated headlines.

From Barron's

Meanwhile, the attacks on energy infrastructure in the region have only served to push prices higher.

From BBC

Related Words

• base
• framework