[f. next: see -ITY.]
1. The quality of being available; capability of being employed or made use of.
1803. W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., I. 439. It is not in celebrity … but in availability that he places importance.
1862. R. Patterson, Ess. Hist. & Art, 224. The distance and difficulty of access to the minerals are formidable impediments to their availability.
b. spec. in U.S. ‘That qualification in a candidate which implies or supposes a strong probability of his success, apart from substantial merit,—a probability resulting from mere personal or accidental popularity.’ J. Inman, in Bartlett, Dict. Amer.
1848. N. Y. Herald, May (in Bartlett, Dict. Amer.). Availability, not merit or qualifications, is the only requisite to secure a nomination.
1870. Lowell, Study Wind., 158. He was … nominated for his availability,—that is, because he had no history.
2. concr. That which is available.
1867. O. W. Holmes, Guard. Angel, I. iv. 64. His list of possible availabilities in the matrimonial line.
1876. Blackmore, Cripps, III. x. 170. Against the gate-post she settled her most substantial availability, and exerted it.
