use

use [yo͞oz; ] for n. [ yo͞os]

vt.

used [yo͞ozd; ] with [ “] to [, '' ] usually [ yo͞os′tə] using [ME usen < OFr user < VL * usare < L usus, pp. of uti, to use]

1. to put or bring into action or service; employ for or apply to a given purpose

2. to practice; exercise [to use one's judgment]

3. to act or behave toward; treat [to use a friend badly]

4. to consume, expend, or exhaust by use: often with up [to use up one's energy]

5.

a) to smoke or chew (tobacco)

b) to take or consume habitually [to use drugs]

6. to make familiar; accustom: used in the passive with to [to become used to certain ways]

7. to exploit or treat (a person) as a means to some selfish end

vi.

1. to be accustomed; be wont: now only in the past tense, with an infinitive, meaning “did at one time” [he used to live in Iowa]

2. Now Chiefly Dial. to frequent; resort

n.

[ME & OFr us < L usus]

1. the act of using or the state of being used

2. the power or ability to use [to regain the use of an injured hand]

3. the right or permission to use [to grant a neighbor the use of one's car]

4. the need, opportunity, or occasion to use [no further use for his services]

5. an instance or way of using

6. the quality that makes a thing useful or suitable for a given purpose; advantage; usefulness; worth; utility

7. the object, end, or purpose for which something is used

8. function, service, or benefit

9. constant, continued, customary, or habitual employment, practice, or exercise, or an instance of this; custom; habit; practice; wont

10. the particular form of ritual or liturgy practiced in a given church, diocese, etc.

11. Law

a) the enjoyment of property, as from occupying, employing, or exercising it

b) [infl. by OFr ues, gain < L opus, a work] profit, benefit, or advantage, esp. that from lands and tenements held in trust by another

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have no use for

1. to have no need of

2. to have no wish to deal with; be impatient with

☆ 3. to have no affection or respect for; dislike strongly

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in use

being used

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make use of

to use; have occasion to use

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put to use

to use; find a use for

SYN.- USE implies the putting of a thing (or, usually in an opprobrious sense, a person regarded as a passive thing) into action or service so as to accomplish an end [to use a pencil, a suggestion, etc.; he used his brother to advance himself ]; EMPLOY, a somewhat more elevated term, implies the putting to useful work of something not in use at that moment [to employ a vacant lot as a playground ] and, with reference to persons, suggests a providing of work and pay [she employs five accountants ]; UTILIZE implies the putting of something to a practical or profitable use [to utilize chemical byproducts ]