out-of-service

English

Alternative forms

• out of service

Adjective

out-of-service (not comparable)

1. Not working, not functioning, broken; currently unavailable.
   • 2005, "Talk of the Town: Elevator Hack," The New Yorker, 17 Oct.,

     No one much likes it when something—an empty cab, an out-of-service subway train, summer—goes by without stopping.

Usage notes

• Used especially for telephone numbers and methods of public transportation, such as elevators, buses, or taxis.
• The hyphenated spelling "out-of-service" is used when this adjective immediately precedes the noun it modifies.

Antonyms

• in service