Definition of Ability

ability (noun) - the quality of being able to perform; a quality that permits or facilitates achievement or accomplishment

View other definitions

How can ability be used in a sentence?

  1. Concerned a brain drain could hurt its long-term ability to compete,

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  2. Firstly, you're wrong - 'ability' is brought out by your environment.

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  3. His web slinging ability is great and a real pain to get in and out of.

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  4. I can see from your game that the ability is there to be in the top 10. '' '

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  5. Cognitive ability is measured using a 20-minute test of general intelligence.

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  6. I would dispute what you characterize as the ability to alter DADT in a "real way".

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  7. Such a development may raise doubts about China's long-term ability to conquer the world.

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  8. "Know power and be powerful," which they define as the ability to effect change and get action.

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  9. Perhaps the best read on his ability is his performance last summer with the U.S. national team.

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  10. This ability is his eminent and secret talent, and it gives the imprint of the masterpiece to his literary work.

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  11. I'm talking about the long-term ability for the United States and the entire global economy to regain its footing.

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  12. He was eloquent which I define as the ability to take complex things and make them simple to understand to a jury of your peers.

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  13. I am sure Obama can, I am just not seeing the increase in ability that I would have expected, or that I deem is plainly necessary.

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  14. Experience and ability is a big one, but you also have to consider the angle of the shot, the timeing, do you have enough time to get closer.

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  15. Any shift in Europe's approach to Russia, and its long-term ability to root Russia in a rules-based world economy, must start with energy policy.

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  16. That ability is what has made the modern UAV so useful in comparison to previous drones, guided missiles such as BOMARC or other related aircraft.

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  17. But if we are to discuss China's long-term ability to conquer the world, it is important to differentiate between short-term and long-term effects.

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  18. Treasurys and elsewhere, it reflects concern about the deteriorating fiscal outlook and the longer-term ability of governments to honor their obligations.

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  19. They've been pushing for what they call "variable pricing," which they define as the ability to raise prices on some records while lowering them on others.

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  20. He also said clients "are rightly concerned about the [company's] long-term ability, which will be clearer as we chart out a long-term plan within the next 10 days."

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  21. But many teachers and parents are worried about the decline in English ability in the nation, as well as the language barriers which would limit the job opportunities.

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  22. The President said, "What I'm looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, but the long-term ability of the United States ... to regain its footing."

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  23. What I'm looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing.

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  24. That hitting ability is the reason the San Diego Padres promoted Blanks in mid-June after he posted a .393 on-base percentage with 12 home runs at Class AAA Portland (Ore.).

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  25. OBAMA: What I'm looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing.

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  26. OBAMA: What I'm looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing.

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  27. These all vary wildly from one person to the next, and it is inevitable that those individuals who hare lacking in ability gravitate towards jobs that are not intellectually demanding.

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  28. Mucci, who ran on a campaign that stressed his experience in city government and what he called his ability to build a consensus between different parties, captured 1,701 votes to Arrico's 974.

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  29. If the Israeli government really cared about its citizens and the country's long term ability to sustain itself in the Middle East, it would abandon the use of violence and talk with its enemies.

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  30. First, foreswearing permanent U.S. bases in Iraq would strengthen the nascent Iraqi government by underscoring its autonomy and U.S. confidence in its long-term ability to achieve effective self-governance.

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  31. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I'm looking at is not the day to day gyrations of the stock market but the long-term ability for the United States and the entire world economy to regain its footing.

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  32. Besides exacerbating obesity, heart disease and diabetes cases, this kind of thinking can only be limited in its long term ability to maintain itself, because it refuses to take a holistic approach to creating goods for the common good.

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  33. They also understand that by causing authors to remove their titles from distribution and lose sales rank a key factor in ebook discoverability, they'll severely limit competing retailers' long term ability to drive sales for the authors.

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  34. Far from being a cost center, today's best marketing organizations provide both long term visibility into revenue results and short term ability to identify and impact the factors that can most improve revenue performance in the short term.

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  35. It is Indonesia's many layers that have allowed moderate Islam to flourish in this nation of 240 million people, said Hasyim, explaining that NU has taken on the posture of moderation, which he called the ability to balance between faith and tolerance.

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  36. P.S. Pearl, I think the paper claims that for optimal tax purposes, correlation with ability is all that is needed; causation is irrelevant, provided that height is orthogonal to effort (which I assume they must have dealt with, otherwise it wouldn't be a valid instrument).

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  37. While there is no chance Slahi will be released in the near future (the Obama administration still has several levels of appeals left while they try to determine how to legally hold him), the Bush administration's decisions have left our long term ability to hold him in doubt.

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  38. When Obama consciously asks volunteers to think of themselves as connected with a tradition that goes back to the abolitionist, union, suffrage, and civil rights movements he gets them thinking not only about a single campaign, but about their long-term ability to join together to shift America's history, and that, unleashed, can be a powerful force.

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  39. Those overtures have led some observers to question YouTube's long-term ability to serve both its homegrown community and Hollywood, with its emphasis on professionally produced content and tight copyright controls. an article published several weeks ago on ClickZ that first reported on the redesign, many commenters voiced concerns about ghettoizing user-generated clips, or a so-called Hulu-ization of YouTube.

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Tips for Using ability in a Sentence

You may have an easier time writing sentences with ability if you know what words are likely to come before or after it, or simply what words are often found in the same sentence.

Frequent Predecessors

Words that often come before ability in sentences. For example: "the ability" or "their ability"

  • the
  • their
  • his
  • and
  • its
  • of
  • our
  • an
  • your
  • her

Frequent Successors

Words that often come after ability in sentences. For example: "ability to" or "ability of"

  • to
  • of
  • .
  • and
  • in
  • is
  • as
  • or
  • for
  • that

Associated Words

Words that aren't necessarily predecessors or successors, but are often found in the same sentence.

  • aptitude
  • manipulate
  • absorb
  • psychologist
  • communicate
  • adapt
  • detect
  • transform
  • abilities
  • generate

Alternate Definitions

  • ability (noun) - possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done
  • ability (noun) - see -<em>able, -bility, -ibility.</em>
  • ability (noun) - the state or condition of being able; power or capacity to do or act in any relation; competence in any occupation or field of action, from the possession of capacity, skill, means, or other qualification
  • ability (noun) - <em>plural</em> in a concrete sense, talents; mental gifts or endowments
  • ability (noun) - that which is within one's power to do; best endeavor
  • ability (noun) - <em>abilities, talents, parts</em>, etc. (see <internalxref urlencoded="genius">genius</internalxref>), gifts, faculty, aptitude, accomplishments
  • ability (noun) - 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 <ex>plural</ex>, faculty, talent
A sentence using ability