Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

'use-by date noun [c] the date by which you must use some types of food or drink, printed on the container or package. It may not be safe to use the items after this date: Throw away the milk—it's two days past its use-by date. expiry date (3), sell-by date See note at

best-before date

used /ju:zd/ adjective [usually before noun] that has belonged to or been used by sb else before: a website for selling used goods о used cars Isyni pre- owned (AmE), second-hand

useful 'life noun [c, usually sing.] (Accounting) the period of time that you can use an asset such as a machine or a vehicle before it is worth buying a new one to replace it: This machinery has an estimated useful life of80 000 running hours. IsynI economic life СБШ An asset is depreciated (reduced in value) over its useful life.

user /'ju:za(r)/ noun [C]

see also: end-user, lead multi-~ user- friendly adjective easy for people who are not experts to use and understand: The email feature has been made more user-friendly, ► .user-'friendliness noun [u]

USername /'ju:zaneim; AmE -zarn-/ noun [c] {IT} the name you use in order to be able to use a computer program or system: Please enter your username.

USP /,ju: es 'pi:/ abbr (Marketing) unique selling proposition or unique selling point (less frequent) a feature of a product or service that makes it different from all others: We need to create a USP for the product if it is to sell.

Many of the best slogans are simple statements of USPs.

* utility /ju:'tilati/ noun (plural utilities)

[C, usually pi.] a service provided for the public, for example an electricity, water or gas supply: the administration of public utilities

[c] a company that provides a service for the public, such as electricity, water or gas: the world's largest private electricity utility

(IT) [c] a piece of computer software that performs a particular task: an anti-virus utility 591 validate

4(Economics) [u] the amount of benefit or satisfaction that sb gets from using a product or service: Water has high utility but low commercial value.

Utilization , -isation /juitalai'zeijn; AmE-la'z/ noun [u]

(Production) the relationship between the amount that a factory, etc. produces and the amount that it is designed to produce: Industrial production fell 0.2 per cent and capacity utilization fell to 75.4 per cent. О capacity/machine/plant utilization

the process of using sth, especially for a practical purpose: the utilization of equipment/knowledge

.utmost good 'faithphrase(Insurance) a basic condition of insurance in which the person wishing to be insured must provide all the necessary facts and information, even if they are not asked for them

UW (also spelled uw, U/W, U/w) abbr (Insurance) a short way of writing underwriter

Vv

V (AmE spelling v.) abbr a short way of writing versus

vacancy /'veikansi/ noun [c] (plural vacancies)

(HR) a job that is available for sb to do: We have a vacancy for a designer, о A vacancy has arisen in our sales department.

a vacancy arises/exists/occurs ♦ to fill a vacancy

a room that is available in a hotel: No vacancies (= on a sign).

'vacancy rate noun [c]

(Property) the percentage of buildings, offices, etc. that are available to be sold or rented at a particular time: The office vacancy rate in the city has risen to 15%.

(HR) the percentage of jobs that are available to be filled: The high staff vacancy rate in the industry is partly due to low levels of pay.

vacant /'veikant/ adjective

(HR) if a job in a company is vacant, nobody is doing it and it is available for sb to take: We are having difficulty filling the vacant post, о The job becomes vacant in December, о looking for a job in the 'Situations Vacant' pages in the newspaper

О a vacant job/position/post/situation ♦ to become/ be left/fall/remain vacant

empty; not being used: They have bought a vacant lot (= piece of land) to build a new warehouse, о The seat next to me was vacant.