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What is "flexibility"

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flexibility
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
flexibility
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
independence/strength/flexibility of mind
▪ men who were chosen for their independence of mind
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
considerable
▪ Detailed guidelines defeat the very purpose of guidelines. which is to allow considerable local flexibility and adjustment.
▪ The considerable flexibility mentioned earlier could not be better illustrated than through one of John Barker's much-used parachutes.
▪ Police work involves a considerable degree of flexibility and discretion.
▪ There are many risks associated with countertrade deals and they may require considerable flexibility on the part of the exporter.
▪ One of the advantages of an electronic instrument is that there is considerable flexibility for its positioning.
▪ To do this, the child requires considerable cognitive flexibility and a good understanding of the concept of intention.
▪ So it will be obvious that we have considerable flexibility in determining the size of parachute.
▪ Because of rapidly changing circumstances, for example in policies or staff availability, there is a need for considerable flexibility in educational planning.
great
▪ The greater flexibility obtained through the dynamic power of lazy evaluation using data-base technology is not the only advantage in this area.
▪ That provides greater flexibility, and allows team members to trade off to avoid boredom.
▪ Sites can now be bought for two week periods, allowing a greater flexibility in marketing planning.
▪ Until a decade ago, the kingdom had greater flexibility in determining its level of income and expenditure.
▪ But the widest fund choice and greatest flexibility is still expected to be available through Isas.
▪ Choice programs in schools typically have greater flexibility and autonomy than are found in traditional comprehensive high schools.
▪ Notes should therefore be taken in a consistent format that allows you the greatest flexibility when it comes to using them.
▪ A reduction in computational complexity will provide greater flexibility in choice of models used to predict outcomes and correlations.
increased
▪ This system offers reduced keycard expenses for the hotel, increased efficiency and increased flexibility.
▪ There is increased range flexibility, it is cheaper shot for shot and it leaves a much more saleable end-product.
▪ Newer models have the advantages of increased flexibility and torque control.
▪ The increased conformational flexibility of L703766 may also explain the weakened interaction with the receptor.
maximum
▪ These lights should be independently switched from any pendant lights for maximum flexibility.
▪ This system allows for maximum flexibility, including interactive multimedia connections that allow each consumer to choose his or her own programs.
▪ On the other hand the thesis allows maximum flexibility in determining the scope of authority.
▪ It preserves maximum flexibility to respond to changing circumstances.
▪ Course Material: To allow maximum flexibility, all pupils follow the same basic course, though at different rates.
▪ The seamless integration of office, retail and hotel environments provides tenants and guests with maximum flexibility and enjoyment at one address.
▪ The locations would give maximum convenience and flexibility.
▪ So boldly mix mod with trad for eyecatching results and maximum flexibility.
sufficient
▪ Machines and machine systems, once we build them with sufficient complexity and flexibility, will also pop.
■ VERB
allow
▪ Detailed guidelines defeat the very purpose of guidelines. which is to allow considerable local flexibility and adjustment.
▪ One was its bit-mapped display, allowing for the flexibility of type and graphics that one gets from the printed page.
▪ Its socio-economic setting and history allow flexibility and changes to be non-threatening.
▪ So, fixed exchange rates or narrow bands simply do not allow countries the flexibility to solve their internal economic troubles.
▪ On the other hand the thesis allows maximum flexibility in determining the scope of authority.
▪ The system allows a lot more flexibility in the way the fireplace can be placed in the house.
▪ Sites can now be bought for two week periods, allowing a greater flexibility in marketing planning.
▪ This system allows for maximum flexibility, including interactive multimedia connections that allow each consumer to choose his or her own programs.
combine
▪ LANtastic for Windows combines the flexibility of an expandable networking system with the friendliness of Microsoft Windows.
give
▪ The 1905 text gives some flexibility as to the precise method of communication.
▪ Working at home gave me flexibility.
▪ The second oven gives you flexibility.
▪ The anytime / anyplace option gives flexibility to the organization, providing the links among its nodes.
▪ The locations would give maximum convenience and flexibility.
▪ This eventually would give her the flexibility to reason and think about such feelings.
▪ This gave both parties greater flexibility, while increasing their dependence on money.
▪ The objectives of the program were to speed up renewal activities and to give communities more flexibility in renewal planning and implementation.
improve
▪ Companies should also do more to improve flexibility for parents.
▪ Kvitne believes a program to strengthen the trunk and improve flexibility will alleviate any problems.
▪ In other cases, the addition of extra modules is designed to improve the flexibility of optional groupings.
▪ The following exercises were designed to improve flexibility as it relates to driving.
▪ Meanwhile, stretching and toning reduce the risk of injury by warming up the muscles while improving flexibility.
increase
▪ The plan aims to satisfy Mr Blunkett's desire for increased flexibility at key stage 4.
▪ Allow for a few minutes of gentle stretching and flexing to increase your flexibility.
▪ The rise in self-employment is also likely to increase the flexibility of earnings.
▪ From this, you and your child can then work together on increasing emotional flexibility.
▪ High-performance work design enabled them to achieve those objectives by increasing flexibility, output quality and effective use of assets.
▪ Many plant cells rapidly expand when their cell walls are acidified; acid activates enzymes that increase the flexibility of cell walls.
▪ This drill is one of a series of exercises designed to increase flexibility in the shoulders.
▪ This exercise will increase overall flexibility in this area and will guard against unnecessary shoulder injuries.
need
▪ Daine needed that flexibility, but he must have been aware of the risks.
▪ We needed flexibility, but kept rigid hierarchies.
▪ You need flexibility to change tack if you are not getting it right.
▪ We told them baseball needs the flexibility to take either one of the actions.
▪ It needs the flexibility for competitive reasons, company officials said.
offer
▪ The decision to go down the Windows route was largely down to his insistence that it would offer greater programming flexibility.
▪ Benjamin acknowledges there is a certain selfishness in offering that flexibility.
▪ Bowmat is a new artificial ski surface, moulded in polyethylene, which offers flexibility in more than one direction.
▪ Computers appeared to offer the flexibility that machines lacked.
▪ Such funds usually offer less flexibility than individual shares handpicked by the investor.
▪ For example, President Clinton, as is his instinct, has occasionally offered the prospect of flexibility in the talks.
▪ Carbon dioxide also offers the flexibility to separate the hop components into bitter and flavour fractions.
provide
▪ It is possible to provide flexibility by alternative means using a group of workers who understand their role from the outset.
▪ While providing greater flexibility to development planning, neighborhood development had some disadvantages.
▪ It also provides some flexibility for smaller countries, which had claimed that for them self-sufficiency was not always feasible.
▪ That provides greater flexibility, and allows team members to trade off to avoid boredom.
▪ In particular it provided flexibility by including a significant proportion of short term placements.
▪ The company prefers the overlay option because it provides more flexibility, a spokesman argued.
▪ All this provides a flexibility not found in other models.
▪ This version of WordPerfect provides greater control and flexibility in printing specific pages.
require
▪ After all, an accord generally requires flexibility, concession and compromise, something not easily achieved in public.
▪ There are many risks associated with countertrade deals and they may require considerable flexibility on the part of the exporter.
▪ To do this, the child requires considerable cognitive flexibility and a good understanding of the concept of intention.
retain
▪ It believes this would prevent legal challenges to its status while retaining its flexibility to interpret the code according to changing circumstances.
▪ The relic, exhumed several times throughout the centuries, always retained its flexibility.
▪ He needed to be active to retain his flexibility and health.
▪ However there are severe limitations to retain flexibility unless the database is not very complex.
▪ In order to retain flexibility the Directors propose that the 5% in five year limit should be continued indefinitely.
show
▪ Like Castro himself, it has shown just enough flexibility to move away from untenable positions.
▪ Hearing the onslaught of criticism, the state Department of Education is showing some signs of flexibility.
▪ Before the publication of the new draft, the Bush administration had appeared to show greater flexibility in its negotiating stance.
▪ But at the same time, she showed little emotional flexibility.
▪ Had these feelings not unduly swayed him, he surely would have shown greater flexibility in his thinking about future strategy.
want
▪ Alternet is the perfect solution for 10BaseT users who want the flexibility that thin coax provides.
▪ We wanted flexibility and thought we could get it here.
▪ The Army wanted enough flexibility to be able to meet the Communist threat at any level.
▪ Kay wanted more of the flexibility and creativity of a natural language.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Cities now have flexibility in deciding how to spend federal transportation money.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Ideally continuity systems will be positive aids that enhance organizations' flexibility without overly constraining individuals.
▪ The flexibility introduced into the system by the carriers means that each group is able to operate with a degree of autonomy.
▪ The key question is how flexibility will be applied in sensitive areas such as foreign policy.
▪ The system allows a lot more flexibility in the way the fireplace can be placed in the house.
▪ This system offers reduced keycard expenses for the hotel, increased efficiency and increased flexibility.
▪ To begin, all the couples involved apparently had the flexibility to accept a dramatic role reversal.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Flexibility

Flexibility \Flex`i*bil"i*ty\, n. [L. flexibilitas: cf. F. flexibilite.] The state or quality of being flexible; flexibleness; pliancy; pliability; as, the flexibility of strips of hemlock, hickory, whalebone or metal, or of rays of light.
--Sir I. Newton.

All the flexibility of a veteran courtier.
--Macaulay.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
flexibility

1610s, of physical things, from French flexibilité (in Old French, "weakness, vacillation") or directly from Late Latin flexibilitatem (nominative flexibilitas), from Latin flexibilis "pliant, yielding" (see flexible). Of immaterial things from 1783.

Wiktionary
flexibility

n. 1 The quality of being flexible; suppleness; pliability. 2 The quality of having options. "I have some flexibility."

Related phrases:
WordNet
flexibility

  1. n. the property of being flexible [syn: flexibleness] [ant: inflexibility]

  2. the quality of being adaptable or variable; "he enjoyed the flexibility of his working arrangement" [ant: inflexibility]

  3. the trait of being easily persuaded [syn: tractability, tractableness] [ant: intractability]

Wikipedia
Flexibility (disambiguation)

Flexibility may refer to:

  • Flexibility, the ability of a material to deform elastically and return to its original shape when the applied stress is removed
  • Flexibility (anatomy), the distance of motion of a joint, which may be increased by stretching
  • Flexibility (engineering), in the field of engineering systems design, designs that can adapt when external changes occur
  • Flexibility (personality), the range of different appropriate behavioural responses a person can make in situations that they face.
  • Cognitive flexibility, the ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts, and to think about multiple concepts simultaneously
  • Labour market flexibility
  • "Flexibility", a song by Miss Kittin & The Hacker first published as the seventh song of their 2001 album First Album
Flexibility (engineering)

Flexibility is used as an attribute of various types of systems. In the field of engineering systems design, it refers to designs that can adapt when external changes occur. Flexibility has been defined differently in many fields of engineering, architecture, biology, economics, etc. In the context of engineering design one can define flexibility as the ability of a system to respond to potential internal or external changes affecting its value delivery, in a timely and cost-effective manner. Thus, flexibility for an engineering system is the ease with which the system can respond to uncertainty in a manner to sustain or increase its value delivery. Uncertainty is a key element in the definition of flexibility. Uncertainty can create both risks and opportunities in a system, and it is with the existence of uncertainty that flexibility becomes valuable.

Flexibility (anatomy)

Flexibility or limberness refers to the absolute range of movement in a joint or series of joints, and length in muscles that cross the joints to induce a bending movement or motion. Flexibility varies between individuals, particularly in terms of differences in muscle length of multi-joint muscles. Flexibility in some joints can be increased to a certain degree by exercise, with stretching a common exercise component to maintain or improve flexibility.

Quality of life is enhanced by improving and maintaining a good range of motion in the joints. Overall flexibility should be developed with specific joint range of motion needs in mind as the individual joints vary from one to another. Loss of flexibility can be a predisposing factor for physical issues such as pain syndromes or balance disorders.

Gender, age, and genetics are important for range of motion. Exercise including stretching and yoga often improves flexibility.

Many factors are taken into account when establishing personal flexibility: joint structure, ligaments, tendons, muscles, skin, tissue injury, fat (or adipose) tissue, body temperature, activity level, age and gender all influence an individual's range of motion about a joint.

Individual body flexibility level is measured and calculated by performing a sit and reach test, where the result is defined as personal flexibility score.

Flexibility (personality)

Flexibility is a personality trait — the extent to which a person can cope with changes in circumstances and think about problems and tasks in novel, creative ways. This trait is used when stressors or unexpected events occur, requiring a person to change their stance, outlook, or commitment. Flexible personality should not be confused with cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to switch between two concepts, as well as simultaneously think about multiple concepts. Researchers of cognitive flexibility describe cognitive flexibility as the ability to switch one’s thinking and attention between tasks. Flexibility, or psychological flexibility as it is sometimes referred to, is the ability to adapt to situational demands, balance life demands, and commit to behaviors.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "flexibility".

The system permits great flexibility: no longer did all messages have to be enciphered with one of a relatively few standard sequences of alphabets, but different ambassadors could be given individual keys, and, if it were feared that a key had been stolen or solved, a new one could be substituted with the greatest of ease.

It loses flexibility if it dries out, but you can cut it in winter and store logs in a pool or bog for a year, even two.

It was probably not danced for the sake of dancing, but was something more in the nature of eurhythmics, in which the dancers strove to show their perfection, the beauty of the lines and the flexibility of their bodies.

On this view, the capacity of enduring the most different climates by man himself and by his domestic animals, and such facts as that former species of the elephant and rhinoceros were capable of enduring a glacial climate, whereas the living species are now all tropical or sub-tropical in their habits, ought not to be looked at as anomalies, but merely as examples of a very common flexibility of constitution, brought, under peculiar circumstances, into play.

One was to take passage on a landship, a great-wheeled wind-driven vessel built with enough flexibility to withstand minor anomalies and capable of steering clear of major ones.

Relative autonomy simply refers to a certain flexibility in the face of changing environmental conditions.

I was taking full swings, moving the club on a straight line back from the ball to as far as I could take it, given my flexibility.

We may even infer as probable that the less or greater destruction during a frost of the leaves on a plant which does not sleep, may often depend on the greater or less degree of flexibility of their petioles and of the branches which bear them.

He liked the flexibility of being able to spend the afternoon in the pub. He is sorry that he never discovered the voluntary sector earlier.

I do not know whether I am praising or excusing myself, but of all those qualities I possessed but one--namely, flexibility.

The chief cause of this flexibility lay in the anagramming process—the one that finally produced the Latin plaintext.

These attractors maintain the system in a condition far from thermo-dynamic equilibrium, with more effective use of information, greater efficiency in the use of free energies, greater flexibility [relative autonomy], as well as greater structural complexity on a higher level of organization.

Flexibility of mind, a disposition easily biassed by others, is an attribute which you know I am not very desirous of obtaining.

Those were rarer than one might have thought, and from his own experience, Simpson recognized the mental flexibility involved in acknowledging that someone else had actually made one of your own brainchildren better.

Both had sailed to the rendezvous, High King Brian aboard a speedy little lugger but recently arrived from Liverpool to join the fleet of the Duke of Norfolk as a dispatch vessel—the sometime Papal lugger repaired and now fitted out with a dozen swivel guns and three of the smaller rifled breechloading tubes of Sir Peter Fairley's manufacture, two of them at stern and one at the bow on a pedestal mount which allowed for extreme flexibility of use.