How to Use useful life in a Sentence

useful life

noun
  • For one thing, equipment at the connection points is 30 to 40 years old, and nearing the end of its useful life.
    IEEE Spectrum, 8 Aug. 2018
  • This will replace equipment that is past its useful life.
    Tom Johanningmeier, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Jan. 2024
  • They must be forced to store enough fuel and retain the capability for spacecraft to steer safely out of space when their useful life is over.
    The Editors, Scientific American, 17 May 2024
  • If the inspection shows the roof has five or more years of useful life left, the insurance company could not reject coverage simply because of age.
    Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
  • The risk of door failures can increase as rail cars age past their useful life, experts said, requiring extra vigilance and upkeep.
    Laura Crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2023
  • These schedules often require businesses to deduct the cost of these investments over an extended period, which can be much longer than the useful life of the assets.
    Veronique De Rugy, Orange County Register, 23 May 2024
  • Updates that prolong your home’s useful life—such as adding a new roof, for example—are another option, as are improvements that adapt your home to new uses.
    Aly J. Yale, wsj.com, 12 Oct. 2023
  • AccuVote devices are currently the only tabulators certified for use in the state, but those are nearing the end of their useful life.
    Steven Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Apr. 2023
  • The chemical, a wood preservative and known carcinogen, was once routinely applied to telephone and electric poles to lengthen their useful life.
    Justin Wm. Moyer, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024
  • The groups represent a mix of 5,000 full-time and contract cybersecurity professionals who currently work in World War II-era hangars that are said to be past their useful life.
    Jennifer Van Grove, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Jan. 2024
  • To learn better mindfulness is to acquire eminently useful life skills; technology is the conduit to this.
    Steven Aquino, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Derived from fossil fuels—with a high carbon footprint, and creating a waste problem at the end of its useful life—purchasing new plastic is best avoided where possible.
    Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 22 June 2023
  • The federal and high-priority fleets would be required to only purchase medium and heavy vehicles that are zero-emission starting in 2024, and phase out other vehicles by the end of their useful life.
    Tony Briscoe, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2023
  • The data minimization approach dictates that sensitive data should not be stored beyond its useful life.
    Rajesh Parthasarathy, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2023
  • If the landlord applies for a rent increase based on capital improvements to a heating system, tenants can object by arguing that the existing system has not exceeded its useful life as outlined by the state.
    Jill Terreri Ramos, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024
  • Avoid overspending on these items, considering their limited useful life.
    Pattie Ehsaei, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Virtually all satellites are designed to burn up completely on re-entry once their useful life is over, to avoid collisions with active satellites on orbit or risk damaging property or people on Earth.
    IEEE Spectrum, 24 Oct. 2023
  • Public transit rail cars typically have a useful life of 31 years, and after that often need more frequent, expensive repairs, members of the Illinois congressional delegation said in a joint statement.
    Sarah Freishtat, Chicago Tribune, 5 May 2023
  • These materials are inherently resistant to many vulnerabilities that affect wood, such as rot, decay and pest infestation, thus extending the pergola’s useful life.
    Ascend Agency, Sun Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'useful life.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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