a ‧ vail ‧ a ‧ ble S1 W1 AC /əˈveɪləb ə l/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ availability ; adjective : ↑ available ≠ ↑ unavailable ]
1 . something that is available is able to be used or can easily be bought or found:
Tickets are available from the box office.
available to
Not enough data is available to scientists.
available to do something
Funds are available to assist teachers who want to attend the conference.
available for
No figures are available for the number of goods sold.
available in
There are plenty of jobs available in the area.
readily/widely available (=very easy to obtain)
Parking is readily available near the station entrance.
Meetings were held to update employees as soon as new information became available.
Further building can continue when money is made available.
Every available space on the wall was covered in pictures.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say that a book, record etc is out rather than available :
▪
His new album is out now.
2 . [not before noun] someone who is available is not busy and has enough time to talk to you:
Collins was not available for comment on Thursday night.
3 . someone who is available does not have a wife, ↑ boyfriend etc, and therefore may want to start a new romantic relationship with someone else
—availability /əˌveɪləˈbɪləti, əˌveɪləˈbɪlɪti/ noun [uncountable] :
the availability of affordable housing
Rooms are offered subject to availability.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ become available
Luckily a house soon became available for us.
▪ make something available
With the Internet it is possible to make learning available wherever it is needed.
■ adverbs
▪ be easily/readily/freely available (=easy to get)
The material used was cheap and readily available.
▪ be widely available (=available in many places)
Organic food is now widely available.
■ adjectives
▪ the best available
We use the best available technology.
■ phrases
▪ the only available something
One small tree was the only available protection from the sun.
▪ the nearest available something
Ruth sat down in the nearest available armchair.
▪ every available something
You should practise speaking the language at every available opportunity.
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THESAURUS
▪ available if something is available, you can buy it, get it, or use it:
Are there any tickets still available for Saturday?
|
There’s no room for more books – we’ve used up all the available space.
▪ free if a seat or room is free, it is not being used by anyone:
Excuse me, is this seat free?
|
The hotel never has any free rooms over the Christmas period.
▪ vacant if a house or room is vacant, it is available for someone to use or rent:
If you’re looking for somewhere to rent, I think there’s a vacant apartment in my building.
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I’ll ask around and see if there’s a room vacant somewhere.
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The sign on the toilet said ‘vacant’.
▪ spare a spare room, key, tyre etc is one that you have in addition to the ones that you normally use, and is therefore available to be used:
We have a spare room you can stay in.
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There’s a spare key in this drawer.
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I got the spare tyre out of the back of the car.
▪ empty an empty room, building etc has no one in it:
The house was empty for two months before it was sold.
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They have three empty rooms now that the kids have moved out.
▪ on offer if something is on offer, it is available for people to choose from:
There is a huge network of cycle tracks on offer.
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Other facilities on offer in this excellent hotel include a hairdressing salon, a coffee shop, and a children's play room.
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the variety of delicious fruits on offer
▪ taken [not before noun] if a seat or room is taken, it is not available for other people to use, because someone has already arranged to use it:
I’m sorry – that seat is taken.
|
I’m afraid all our rooms are taken at the moment.