available
adjUS, UK /əˈveɪ.lə.bəl/ · IN /əʋ.leː.bɘl/
Etymology From Middle English available, avayllable, avayleable, equivalent of avail + -able.
1
Such as one may avail oneself of; capable of being used for the accomplishment of a purpose.
- We have an available candidate.
- For this scene, a large number of supers are engaged, and in order to further swell the crowd, practically all the available stage hands have to ‘walk on’ dressed in various coloured dominoes, and all wearing masks.1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
2
Readily obtainable.
- The list shows the available products in the store.
3
Law Valid.
- This is an available plea.
4
Archaic Having sufficient power, force, or efficacy to achieve the purpose; availing, effective.
- One thing however, I finally settled upon—and that was, if I ever did meet him that I would shoot him precisely as I would shoot a mad dog. In order to make this plan available, I had […] armed myself with a revolver.1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 22:
- The different navigations she had to pass through for this purpose were such that only an independent method of propulsion would be available.1897, Henry Banroft, Proceedings - Institution of Mechanical Engineers, canal Boat Propulsion:
5
Free to meet someone, speak on the telephone, enter a romantic relationship, or the like.
- I have a question for you when you're available.
- Hi, this is Mark Smith calling. Is your mother available?
2 more examples
- I asked her if she was available, but she said she had a boyfriend.
- Van de Velde did not make himself available to journalists. “He wants to rest his mind,” Immers explained.2024 July 28, Matthew Futterman, “Steven van de Velde brings yet another moral hazard to the Olympics”, in nytimes.com:
- Synonyms
- usable, profitable, advantageous, vacant, gettable, on offer, valid
- Antonyms
- unavailable, taken
- Derived terms
- availability, availableness, availably, bioavailable, bio-available, geoavailable, inavailable, interavailable, nonavailable, phytoavailable, reavailable, re-available, unavailable, available energy, available light, available seat-mile, available ton mile, source-available