INDEX:
1. available for someone to have or use
2. when a job is available
3. when someone is not busy and is available to do something
4. an amount of something that you have available to use
5. when something is not available
RELATED WORDS
when someone is not available : ↑ BUSY/NOT BUSY
see also
↑ GET
↑ BUY
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1. available for someone to have or use
▷ available /əˈveɪləb ə l/ [adjective]
if something is available, you can get it, buy it, or use it :
▪ There’s no room for more books - we’ve used up all the available space.
available to
▪ Grants are available to students who have high grades.
available from
▪ The publication is available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
available at/in
▪ Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations.
have something available
▪ Do you have a room available for this weekend?
readily/freely available
very easy to get
▪ Drugs like heroin are readily available on the streets.
make something available
▪ These statistics are never sold or made available to the public.
▷ free /friː/ [adjective]
a room or seat that is free is not being used by anyone now, and no one has asked for it to be kept for them to use later :
▪ Is this chair free?
▪ The only free seats on the train were in a smoking compartment.
have something free
▪ The hotel never has any rooms free over the Christmas period.
▷ spare /speəʳ/ [adjective]
something that is spare is not being used now, but it can be used if someone needs it :
▪ I need 50 cents for the parking meter - do you have any spare change?
▪ We’re using the spare bedroom as a storage space.
▪ a spare tyre
▷ empty /ˈempti/ [adjective]
something such as a room or seat that is empty has no one using it at the moment and is therefore available for someone else to use :
▪ They have three empty rooms now that the kids have moved out.
▪ I think there’s an empty seat in the back row.
▪ The house was empty for two months before it was sold.
▷ vacant /ˈveɪkənt/ [adjective]
a building, home, room, or office that is vacant is available because it is not owned or rented by anyone :
▪ There don’t seem to be any vacant rooms in the whole of London!
▪ If you’re looking for somewhere to rent, I think there’s a vacant apartment in my building.
▪ Of the buildings the company owns, only 3% are vacant.
vacancy [countable noun]
a room in a hotel, rented house etc that no one is staying in now, and is available for people to pay to stay in :
▪ All we saw for miles were ‘no vacancy’ signs.
▷ to be had/found /tə biː ˈhæd, ˈfaʊnd/ [adjective phrase]
something that is to be had or to be found is available to anyone who knows where to get it from :
▪ When no work was to be had, he borrowed money from friends.
▪ We looked all over, but there were no fast food restaurants to be found.
▪ She knew of a place where designer clothes were to be had at bargain prices.
▷ be going /biː ˈgəʊɪŋ/ [verb phrase] British informal
if something is going, it is available for anyone who wants it :
▪ Is there any more wine going?
▪ There aren’t many jobs going in this part of the country.
▷ at your disposal /ət jɔːʳ dɪˈspəʊz ə l/ [adjective phrase]
if something is at your disposal, someone has provided it for you to use whenever you want or in any way that you want :
▪ We have ample money at our disposal to do this job right.
▪ A limousine and driver were put at her disposal for the entire week.
▷ be on tap /biː ɒn ˈtæp/ [verb phrase] informal
if something that you like or enjoy is on tap, it is available to you all the time so that you can have it whenever you want it :
▪ It’s a great place for a rest: food, music, alcohol - everything’s on tap.
▪ Some three hundred free outdoor shows are on tap during the weekend festival.
2. when a job is available
▷ vacant /ˈveɪkənt/ [adjective]
not being done by anyone at the moment and therefore available :
▪ Our company only has one or two vacant positions at the moment.
▪ When the post became vacant it was offered to Wendy Brooks.
fall vacant
become vacant British
▪ He applied for the job of Eliot’s personal secretary, which had just fallen vacant.
▷ vacancy /ˈveɪkənsi/ [countable noun]
an available job :
▪ There are over 3 million people unemployed and only 400,000 vacancies.
▪ I’m sorry, the firm has no vacancies at the moment.
fill a vacancy
▪ Barnhart will fill a vacancy on the Planning Commission.
▷ open /ˈəʊpən/ [adjective not before noun]
a job that is open, especially a job that needs a lot of skill, is still available because it has not yet been given to anyone else :
▪ Is that job you told me about last week still open?
open to
▪ The position is open to graduates in any subject.
come open
▪ When the job finally came open, I was the first to apply.
▷ opening /ˈəʊp ə nɪŋ/ [countable noun]
an available job :
▪ I was wondering if there were any job openings at your company.
fill an opening
▪ We expect to fill most of the openings through internal promotion.
▷ unfilled /ˌʌnˈfɪld◂/ [adjective]
a job or position that is unfilled is available because an employer has not yet decided who should do it, or cannot find someone suitable for it :
▪ About 13,000 of the unfilled positions are for software engineers.
▪ It’s hard to understand the unemployment figures when so many jobs go unfilled.
3. when someone is not busy and is available to do something
▷ available /əˈveɪləb ə l/ [adjective]
someone who is available is not doing anything now and is therefore available to do something, especially a piece of work for someone else :
▪ We need someone to work on this job immediately. Who’s available?
▪ Most of the staff is away today so you’ll have to use whoever is available.
▪ None of the witnesses were available for comment.
availability /əˌveɪləˈbɪlɪti, əˌveɪləˈbɪləti/ [uncountable noun]
▪ It is the hospital manager who should match the availability of staff with the needs of the patients.
▷ free /friː/ [adjective]
someone who is free is available because they are not doing anything now or have finished what they were doing :
▪ I’ll be free in about five minutes. Can you wait?
free to do something
▪ Are you free to talk for a couple of minutes?
4. an amount of something that you have available to use
▷ supply /səˈplaɪ/ [countable noun]
▪ More donors are needed as blood supplies run low.
supply of
▪ The supermarket donated a year’s supply of groceries to one needy family.
▷ stock /stɒkǁstɑːk/ [countable noun]
an amount of something that you keep and can use when you need to :
▪ The government has said it has no need for chemical weapons and will destroy its stocks entirely.
stock of
▪ Jodie always had a large stock of brandy in her cupboard.
▷ reserves /rɪˈzɜːʳvz/ [plural noun]
an amount of money, goods etc that a country or organization has available to be used if they are needed :
▪ The government has exhausted almost all its foreign currency reserves.
reserves of
▪ Kuwait has large reserves of oil.
▷ pool /puːl/ [countable noun]
an amount or number of workers, cars, money etc that can be shared or used by a number of people :
▪ Most countries have a pool of surplus labour.
▪ There is a much smaller pool of houses to rent than there used to be.
5. when something is not available
▷ unavailable/not available /ˌʌnəˈveɪləb ə l, nɒt əˈveɪləb ə l/ [adjective not before noun]
▪ She took a temporary job because a permanent job was not available.
▪ In many Russian cities basic foodstuffs are unavailable.
unavailable/not available to
▪ This type of diet pill should be made unavailable to minors.
▷ unobtainable /ˌʌnəbˈteɪnəb ə l/ [adjective not usually before noun]
goods or products that are unobtainable are impossible to get or buy :
▪ Fresh fruit is unobtainable at certain times of the year.
▪ Good apartments to rent had become almost unobtainable.
▷ not to be had/found /nɒt tə biː ˈhæd, ˈfaʊnd/ [adjective phrase]
if something that you really want is not to be had or not to be found you know it is not available at all because you have tried to get it everywhere :
▪ At the moment warm woollen socks are not to be found anywhere in Bucharest.
▪ Good legal advice is simply not to be had because of the shortage of lawyers.
▷ taken /ˈteɪkən/ [adjective not before noun]
if something such as a seat, room, or place is taken, someone has already arranged to use it and it is not available for other people to use :
▪ I’m sorry - that seat is taken.