capacity

ca|pac|i|ty [ kə`pæsəti ] noun count or uncount ***

1. ) the amount of something that can be put in a container or the number of people that a place has room for:

capacity of: The fuel tanks have a capacity of 25,000 gallons.

a concert hall with a seating capacity of 800

filled/full to capacity (=completely full): All the country's prisons are full to capacity.

a capacity crowd/audience (=a very large crowd/audience that completely fills a place): The game is set to attract a capacity crowd of 42,000.

a ) the amount of information that can be stored on a computer disk

2. ) the ability to do something:

Her poor health limits her earning capacity.

capacity to do something: They are worried about their capacity to invest for the future.

capacity for: Harry had a tremendous capacity for work.

3. ) the amount of goods that a company can produce or the amount of work it can do:

New machinery could increase our production capacity by 25 percent.

The plant has a capacity of 120,000 tons a year.

The present rail network has plenty of spare capacity.

at full capacity (=producing as many goods as possible, or doing as much work as possible): The factory is now operating at full capacity.

a ) the amount of energy or power that something can produce

in a professional/personal/advisory etc. capacity FORMAL

having a particular job or position when you do something:

I am here in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the company.

in your capacity as: Elizabeth Taylor was there in her capacity as patron of the charity.