noun

dependency

dih-PEHN-duhn-see

noun

A strong reliance on someone or something, especially a habit-forming substance.

"The clinic specialises in treating alcohol dependency."

A territory that is governed or controlled by another country.

"The island remains a dependency of the United Kingdom."

In computing, a piece of software or code that another program relies on to function.

"Updating the library broke several other dependencies in the project."

How to Use Dependency

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA strong reliance on something, a territory ruled by another country, or (in tech) code that other code needs to run.

Easily confused with

dependence →

Common pairings

drug dependency a British dependency install a dependency

dependencies plural

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Can you complete this real example?

The clinic specialises in treating alcohol _____.

Built from "dependent" plus "-cy," or from "depend" plus "-ency."

agency urgency potency decency regency currency tendency clemency leniency frequency emergency residency