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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
ability
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
exceptional talent/ability/skill
▪ He showed exceptional talent even as a youngster.
intellectual development/ability/activity etc
▪ a job that requires considerable intellectual effort
mixed ability
▪ a mixed ability group
sb's ability to cope
▪ The bears' survival will depend on their ability to cope with a changing environment.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
athletic
▪ She had always been defined by her athletic ability, and without it she was lost.
▪ Mostly because of his defense and athletic ability, his playing time has increased the last two weeks.
▪ The researchers estimated Diatryma's athletic ability as quite adequate to catch most of the contemporary mammals.
▪ In everything from athletic ability to popularity appearance, brains, and clothes, children rank themselves against others.
▪ Serious cases of pneumonia can leave damaged areas in the lungs which can affect future athletic ability.
▪ But they are not allowed to make money from their athletic ability or reputation.
▪ And he has a lot of athletic ability.
▪ Young Joe possessed minimal athletic ability and was developing into an overweight child.
average
▪ This sentiment was repeated a few years later by the Newsom Report in relation to average ability working-class adolescents.
▪ Most of the remainder are in the 40-70 range, with the highest grades reaching almost average mental ability.
▪ Most students, by definition, will be of average ability, with a smaller number below average.
▪ There is another approach to the problem of maintaining speed throughout the roll which is used by those of above average ability.
great
▪ Gould discovered in this hardy, middle-aged explorer, a man of great charm and great ornithological ability.
▪ He has great ability, and he can really charm you.
▪ Young women of this age show a high regard for each other's individuality and a greater ability to tolerate differences.
▪ And both boys and girls with involved fathers demonstrate a greater ability to take initiative and direct themselves.
▪ His decision encouraged many of us, for he was a man of great integrity as well as ability.
▪ A lot of times guys with great ability take some plays off.
▪ He was a man of great energy, ability and ruthlessness.
▪ They have a great ability to survive in subdued light.
intellectual
▪ He says he wanted to find out if he had the intellectual ability to complete a degree starting from nothing.
▪ Almost all of the identified work-inhibited students had average to superior intellectual ability scores.
▪ Relaxation or withdrawal of treatment before mid-childhood has been associated with a further decline in intellectual ability.
▪ Only one student had a score that fell below the average range, and most had above-average intellectual ability scores.
▪ He combined outstanding intellectual ability with a vigorous, highly disciplined, and formidable personality.
▪ Mills refers to this intellectual ability as a certain flexibility or quality of the mind.
▪ It is difficult to conceive of such thinking taking place without the growth and development of intellectual ability.
▪ The issue of intellectual ability is especially important when considering the prevalence of mild dementia.
musical
▪ The Princess, he declared, was' very accomplished, a very sensitive player and shows great musical ability.
▪ Because the music is simple, repetitive and easily accessible to all, no great musical ability and no books are required.
▪ Green was a ready judge of others' musical ability.
▪ A nation of music lovers mourns ... Despite his lack of musical ability, Gedge became interested in writing songs.
▪ The growth of instrumental tuition in schools means that large numbers of children with some musical ability are available to be recruited.
natural
▪ Adam's natural ability impressed Jenny.
▪ I took it to heart: There was something wrong with me, a natural ability lacking.
▪ Patients are given highly diluted doses of natural substances which, say practitioners, boost the body's natural healing ability.
▪ Your natural ability is the thing that should emerge, and if you have been well coached the coaching won't show.
▪ Your lips have no natural moisturising ability so need frequent application of protective balm or stick.
▪ He shared her natural ability to understand horses, her insight into how their minds worked.
▪ He seems to have a natural ability which encourages plants to grow well.
▪ I had a natural ability to entirely forget the theatre when at home, and viceversa, which was extremely useful.
■ VERB
affect
▪ Are past ground shakes affecting your ability to build faith for tomorrow?
▪ A growing body of evidence shows that alcohol molecules directly affect the ability of ion channels to open or close.
▪ The reduction in distributable reserves may, of course, affect the company's ability to pay future dividends.
▪ Mineral, vitamin and blood-sugar levels have been repeatedly shown to affect ability to relax.
▪ It affects the ability to remember, hear, think and reason.
▪ Losses by candidates he has supported could affect his ability to extend his stay in power as Yugoslav president.
▪ Conversely, the availability of different types of housing also affects the ability of persons and families forming separate households.
▪ The county government had seen its operation lose customers and revenue, and this affected its ability to borrow money.
communicate
▪ It has lost none of its imaginative power or ability to communicate ideas.
▪ Their ability to communicate unfolds in a sequence of stages, starting between about six months and eighteen months of age.
▪ They are merely one method of making possible the ability to communicate out of which a community can grow.
▪ The ability to communicate with the outside world proved to be the key to other, vital sponsorship.
▪ Teaching is the ability to communicate effectively to the student or pupil, enabling learning to take place.
▪ Earlier we noted that the ability to communicate could be considered a prerequisite for leadership.
▪ Important personal traits for funeral directors are composure, tact, and the ability to communicate easily with the public.
control
▪ It has also shown that they are most effective in situations of crisis because of their ability to initiate and control social interactions.
▪ This rewarded not production but the ability to control production.
▪ Morphine and its related narcotics have proved extremely useful in their ability to control pain.
▪ The ability to control our own fertility gives women choice and timing, as well as improved overall health.
▪ The other facet of the relationship is the ability to control subordinates.
▪ Expanded research is needed to better understand these events and enhance our ability to predict and control these infections.
▪ Instructors can be mistaken about their students' ability to control the initial part properly if one or two launches go well.
▪ Many people are negative about their ability to control their diet.
cope
▪ An extravagant signal could be a general statement of a male's ability to cope.
▪ Meanwhile doubts about the private banks' ability to cope caused mounting worries.
▪ Yet, as Margaret Donaldson points out, the ability to cope with disembedded tasks is crucial to educational success.
▪ Services should also aim to enhance the individual's own ability to cope with distress.
▪ As a result she was renowned for her ability to cope patiently with awkward guests.
▪ Coral species vary in their ability to cope with sediment.
▪ It was a combination that destroyed his ability to cope with life, and he sought psychiatric help in 1950.
▪ It's not only riding skills that count when considering a holiday, but the ability to cope in unfamiliar surroundings.
demonstrate
▪ His question-answering demonstrated an analytical ability, and respect for the questioner and for his audience.
▪ Experiments have demonstrated the ability to reproduce classical conditioning phenomena and robot control simulations.
▪ Reservoirs, wells and canals demonstrate the ability to regulate water supply.
▪ And both boys and girls with involved fathers demonstrate a greater ability to take initiative and direct themselves.
▪ By tying knots we demonstrate our knowledge and ability to deal with the powers of the world.
▪ Compulsory competitive tendering will oblige local authorities to bring in managers who demonstrate their ability to deliver the best services to tenants.
▪ Morihei Uyeshiba, the founder of aikido, often demonstrated his ability to elude attack in this way.
depend
▪ Much will depend on the ability of the employer to offer you optimum conditions for job satisfaction.
▪ Rather, they are relatively more attentive or less attentive depending on their ability to process information in a certain area.
▪ The F-111s are ageing and their credibility as a deterrent depends upon their ability to penetrate increasingly sophisticated Soviet air defences.
▪ The ability of the state to resolve these crises would depend on the states ability to raise revenue and mobilise public support.
▪ However, effectiveness does depend on managers' ability to use the power they have to encourage others to join in.
▪ The effectiveness of such a legal system depends upon its ability to express the rights, powers and interests of subordinate classes.
▪ In this volatile atmosphere Thaksin's popularity and freedom of action will depend on his ability to achieve quick results.
▪ The future - the very lives - of these children depend on our ability to reach them with vaccines and health education.
develop
▪ By which is meant that they have developed their ability to focus both senses and mind upon a thought process.
▪ During these years, the child develops the ability to apply logical thought to concrete problems in the present. 4.
▪ He also developed the ability to sketch as he walked with his pad and pencil.
▪ I had developed an ability to see things before they occurred.
▪ This helps to develop empathy - the ability to see things from the other's point of view in addition to one's own.
▪ And there are few opportunities for students to develop such ability before they enroll in those courses.
▪ Some species of birds have developed the ability to distinguish between model and mimic and will feed on the imposters.
▪ She developed an ability that remains as awesome today as ever.
handle
▪ They admired his ability to handle an awkward bill in a café or fix lodgings for the night.
▪ With a goal to our life, our ability to bear and handle the discomfort and pain is also increased.
▪ We will now review evidence on children's ability to handle explanations in each mode.
▪ Accuracy and the ability to handle responsibility with limited supervision are important.
▪ It's an alien situation and I question his ability to handle it.
▪ He has the ability to handle heated situations better than others.
▪ An ability to handle air-sensitive compounds, although not essential, would be an advantage.
▪ To her, Roz was uncanny in her ability to perform. handle outrageous situations, do.
improve
▪ It is a great exercise to improve your ability to play to length.
▪ Some tanks had a cutter bar mounted in front to improve their ability to move through jungle.
▪ Martin learned to drive as his Skill project and improved on his swimming ability in the Physical Recreation section.
▪ But he noted that federal agencies are working to improve their ability to predict space weather storms.
▪ To increase the number of errors can sometimes improve the ability to respond to a challenge.
▪ If you would like to improve your public-speaking ability join Toast-masters International.
▪ Being well-dressed doesn't improve a person's ability to do accounts, or whatever.
▪ Keeping hydrated improves the body's ability to trap and neutralize those microbes before they can gain a foothold.
limit
▪ Capacity and other resource constraints which may limit the target's ability to respond to increases in demand.
▪ Rule-based computers are limited in their ability to accommodate inaccuracies or fuzzy information.
▪ This may limit the ability of these hospitals to meet their pledges of maximum inpatient waiting times of two years.
▪ Some programs also offer users a limited ability to decide for themselves which sites to block.
▪ Conceptual factors are those which limit our ability to draw conclusions from experiments, even if they are technically perfect.
▪ Also, there are only two zoom levels, which limit your ability to view a particular area.
▪ But others want to limit Washington's ability to buy its way out of its domestic obligations.
▪ It also limits the ability of agency heads to compete successfully for high-skilled senior talent.
lose
▪ With sufficient training, however, both stimuli will lose the ability to evoke attention.
▪ Once your groin gets the upper hand, you lose the ability to reason.
▪ Largely as a result, they had lost the ability to construct complex and resonant narratives.
▪ And, more important, the military certainly has not lost its ability to fight and win wars because adultery is prohibited.
▪ If you are low in stamina you will have lost your ability to get through the day without becoming over-tired.
▪ Martha was alone with her husband as his paralysis spread, and as he lost the ability to swallow.
▪ Damp affects down particularly badly causing the fluffy tendrils to clog together and lose the ability to insulate.
▪ With them, the human race lost its ability to send astronauts to the Moon and beyond.
pay
▪ Neither is fair, in the sense of being related to income, and thus ability to pay.
▪ In the other; her ability to focus and pay attention is very strong.
▪ It is not targeted at those in greatest need, because ability to pay will not be a factor.
▪ But the ability to pay for safety nets is just one of the social effects of having an educated population.
▪ The reduction in distributable reserves may, of course, affect the company's ability to pay future dividends.
▪ It was the introduction of the new fourth resource which clearly injected the principle of ability to pay across all countries.
▪ They are what economists call a rent, a surplus determined by our ability to pay.
▪ Aside from those who can pay cash, ability to pay is an amalgam of income and mortgage interest rates.
produce
▪ Particularly helpful is the ability to produce slick roughs, illustrating an idea or a copy line.
▪ The promise of hypertext lies in its ability to produce large, complex, richly connected, and cross-referenced bodies of information.
▪ Accuracy and steadiness under pressure are more important than the ability to produce the odd unplayable ball.
▪ The ability to produce in greater quantities made this system wasteful and it has given way to a more scientific process.
▪ For example, the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has the ability to produce crystalline spores which act as natural insecticides.
▪ Consequently, Muir believes, biotech fish could quickly decimate a fish population by their increased ability to produce damaged young.
▪ Education may enhance the ability to produce justifications, rather than eliminate racism toutcourt.
▪ Students often find that their ability to produce language which is appropriate for a particular situation is less than they had expected.
provide
▪ Their ability to provide such capital may however be limited, and therefore high profits will be sought.
▪ In the past, local hotlines have to the best of their ability provided only a patchwork quilt of assistance.
▪ They have developed an ability to provide a chemical service to customers, rather than selling products in a bag.
▪ Some people just seem to know, to have a grasp, and the ability to provide vision.
▪ If this results in objections it may affect our ability to provide a shelter.
▪ But they no longer define being a good father almost exclusively in terms of the ability to provide economically.
▪ If our energy is not used, then our body's ability to provide energy is also lost.
reduce
▪ And it can reduce the business's ability to meet its commitments.
▪ Besides increased miscarriage risk, the UC-Davis study also found a reduced ability to get pregnant linked to glycol ethers.
▪ Although the mite rarely kills bees, it weakens and deforms them, reducing their ability to make honey.
▪ Ill health can reduce the individual's ability to move due to motor or nervous problems.
▪ Spontaneous resolution is likely to reduce the ability of any trial to show differences in the effect of treatment.
▪ One person's reception of them does not reduce the ability of others to receive them.
▪ This would reduce the ability of the living world to take up carbon dioxide.
▪ He complained that it reduced his ability to walk around which was already somewhat restricted by arthritis.
show
▪ We can expect such systems to show varying degrees of ability to acclimatize.
▪ We have not shown the ability to sell 15, 000-seat shows on a consistent basis.
▪ In fact the anti-gold mining struggle has shown an ability to utilize a wide variety of cultural weapons in its campaign.
▪ Gagne has shown an ability to play through pain.
▪ He also showed marked ability as a conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and as a composer.
▪ Mineral, vitamin and blood-sugar levels have been repeatedly shown to affect ability to relax.
▪ Uwaezuoke shows ability as a punt returner.
understand
▪ The ability to understand the policy implications of research projects is a must.
▪ With the infusion of resources into cancer research came an explosion in our ability to understand and manipulate the cancer cell.
▪ While age is clearly a highly relevant factor it does not always accurately reflect ability to understand.
▪ The first three chapters are concerned with various aspects of children's ability to understand language.
▪ He shared her natural ability to understand horses, her insight into how their minds worked.
▪ Our technical ability to make things and to pollute now far outstrips our ability to understand the processes we have unleashed.
▪ Strengthened by his ability to understand the phenomenon of sound, early man became conscious of the creative power inherent in it.
▪ Or whether mutually to reinforce their ability to perceive and understand this city - two viewpoints yielding a stereoscopic perspective.
work
▪ Finally, appraisal procedures must be established which monitor and enhance the individual's ability to work to maximum effectiveness.
▪ They say she was also impressed with his ability to work with others.
▪ A strong background in quantitative analysis, careful attention to detail and an ability to work to tight deadlines are essential skills.
▪ In poor families, the ability to work and to earn income is usually the only asset people have.
▪ However, when both have felt threatened by developments in the Middle East they have demonstrated their ability to work together.
▪ More specifically, the ability to work with people.
▪ The first thing, therefore, is to believe in yourself and in your ability to work with numbers.
▪ Employees who work off-site are evaluated on their ability to work independently yet communicate with their team to meet goals.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
to the best of your knowledge/belief/ability etc
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Even children of above-average ability are not always ready to begin school.
▪ leadership ability
▪ Luckily, she had innate ability to judge people quickly and accurately.
▪ Maria will be a fine musician; she shows a lot of ability.
▪ No one doubts his ability to get work done quickly.
▪ Our ability to think and speak makes us different from other animals.
▪ The children are divided into groups according to their reading ability.
▪ The course material depends on the level of ability of the student.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But her colleagues and superiors could not fault her dedication to the job, speaking highly of her nursing ability.
▪ Communism failed and capitalism will falter if we do not give people the ability to make their dreams come true.
▪ For the regime, the fact that it presided over a cowed, debilitated populace enhanced its ability to remain in power.
▪ I think that a compelling vision combined with a unique ability to manage risk is the magic behind successful entrepreneurs.
▪ Indeed, the use of electronic documentation systems should enhance a organisation's ability to maintain full and accurate records.
▪ Stepping is a structured exercise class with an ability level for everyone.
▪ You have been given the ability to recognise your own apprehensions, to accept them and then to let them go.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ability

Ability \A*bil"i*ty\ ([.a]*b[i^]l"[i^]*t[y^]), n.; pl. Abilities ([.a]*b[i^]l"[i^]*t[i^]z). [F. habilet['e], earlier spelling habilit['e] (with silent h), L. habilitas aptitude, ability, fr. habilis apt. See Able.] The quality or state of being able; power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual, conventional, or legal; capacity; skill or competence in doing; sufficiency of strength, skill, resources, etc.; -- in the plural, faculty, talent.

Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren.
--Acts xi. 29.

Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study.
--Bacon.

The public men of England, with much of a peculiar kind of ability.
--Macaulay.

Syn: Capacity; talent; cleverness; faculty; capability; efficiency; aptitude; aptness; address; dexterity; skill.

Usage: Ability, Capacity. These words come into comparison when applied to the higher intellectual powers. Ability has reference to the active exercise of our faculties. It implies not only native vigor of mind, but that ease and promptitude of execution which arise from mental training. Thus, we speak of the ability with which a book is written, an argument maintained, a negotiation carried on, etc. It always something to be done, and the power of doing it. Capacity has reference to the receptive powers. In its higher exercises it supposes great quickness of apprehension and breadth of intellect, with an uncommon aptitude for acquiring and retaining knowledge. Hence it carries with it the idea of resources and undeveloped power. Thus we speak of the extraordinary capacity of such men as Lord Bacon, Blaise Pascal, and Edmund Burke. ``Capacity,'' says H. Taylor, ``is requisite to devise, and ability to execute, a great enterprise.'' The word abilities, in the plural, embraces both these qualities, and denotes high mental endowments.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
ability

late 14c., from Old French ableté "expert at handling (something)," from Latin habilitatem (nominative habilitas) "aptitude," noun of quality from habilis "easy to manage, handy" (see able). One case where a Latin silent -h- failed to make a return in English (despite efforts of 16c.-17c. scholars); see H.

Wiktionary
ability

n. 1 (context obsolete English) Suitableness. (Attested from around (1350 to 1470) until the late 17th century.)(reference-book editor=Brown, Lesley title=The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary origyear=1933 edition=5th year=2003 publisher=Oxford University Press location=Oxford, UK isbn=978-0-19-860575-7 pages=4) 2 (context uncountable English) The quality or state of being able; capacity to do; capacity of doing something; having the necessary power. (First attested from around (1350 to 1470).)

WordNet
ability
  1. n. the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment [ant: inability]

  2. possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done; "danger heightened his powers of discrimination" [syn: power] [ant: inability]

Wikipedia
Ability

Ability may refer to:

  • Aptitude, a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level
  • Intelligence, logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning, having emotional knowledge, retaining, planning, and problem solving
  • Knowledge, a familiarity with someone or something, which can include facts, information, descriptions, or skills
  • Skill, the learned ability to carry out a task with pre-determined results
  • Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
  • Capability (disambiguation)
  • Superpower (ability), a popular culture term for a fictional superhuman ability
  • Intellectual giftedness, an intellectual ability significantly higher than average.

Ability may also refer to:

  • Ability score, in role-playing games
  • Ability Plus Software, makers of the office suite Ability Office
  • Ability grouping
  • ABILITY Magazine
  • Ability (Fringe), a 2009 episode of the television series Fringe
  • Ability (manhwa), a 2012 Manhwa webtoon published in Naver Magazine
Ability (manhwa)

is a webtoon written by Son Jae Ho and illustrated by Lee Gwang Su. Started in 2012, the webtoon manhwa was released on Naver and is said to have taken a break after season 1 which lasted 60 chapters, but from several sources it is said the author has dropped the webtoon because he fell sick. The author and artist of Ability also created the manhwa Noblesse. Despite being sick he did announce he'll keep continuing the Noblesse manhwa. The Ability manhwa or webtoon will therefore not get a season 2 until further notice from the author who had initially claimed to work on it after the Noblesse manhwa ends.

Ability (Fringe)

"Ability" is the fourteenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The plot follows the Fringe team's investigation into ZFT and David Robert Jones, who claims that Olivia is a soldier equipped with abilities to fight in an upcoming war between two parallel universes. A skeptical Olivia must discover a way to avoid unleashing an attack that causes fatal accelerated cellular growth in its victims.

The episode's teleplay was written by co-executive producer David H. Goodman from a story by executive story editors Glen Whitman and Robert Chiappetta. It was directed by Norberto Barba, his only contribution to the series. Jared Harris guest starred as Jones, alongside actors Clark Middleton, Michael Gaston, Noah Bean, and Chance Kelly.

It first aired in the United States on February 10, 2009 on the Fox network to an estimated 9.83 million viewers, placing second in its timeslot. The episode earned a 4.1/10 ratings share among adults aged 18 to 49, meaning that it was seen by 4.1 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 10 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of broadcast. "Ability" received mixed reviews from television critics.

Usage examples of "ability".

The words shimmered in her mind, his ability to use telepathy growing stronger with each use.

I have no ability to do that, not even with you enhancing his emotions for me.

He noticed the older antidepressants like amitriptyline decreased psychic ability, while the newer serotonin reuptake inhibitors were either neutral or they enhanced it.

There is a higher level of psychic ability in autistics in comparison to the general population.

Thinking about him interfered with her ability to concentrate on helping him.

He seized, knew he was in trouble, and put himself out, using his ability as a dreamwalker.

He rested her back against the wall, his forehead pressed to hers, struggling to regain his ability to breathe.

Lily attempted to regain her ability to breathe, listening to the next song, a slow, moody number.

His telepathic ability is almost nil, but he feels the surges of energy.

Beyond that, I have no knowledge of how my father managed to enhance psychic ability in the men.

They exhibited an ability to spin a fairly strong web and communicated largely through scents.

At the same time, the desperation I heard in some voices made me wonder if Natch had been right to question our ability to make changes.

The fact that you saw what you did confirms your ability to be functional at our destination.

Creating Pygmalion without establishing a check on his ability to assume power had been a gross blunder.

Will pegged as physically being able to visit those other realms, he had a hard time accepting their existence and his ability to travel to them.