- 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 purpose2. 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 endvi.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; resortn.[ME & OFr us < L usus]1. the act of using or the state of being used2. 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 using6. the quality that makes a thing useful or suitable for a given purpose; advantage; usefulness; worth; utility7. the object, end, or purpose for which something is used8. function, service, or benefit9. constant, continued, customary, or habitual employment, practice, or exercise, or an instance of this; custom; habit; practice; wont10. the particular form of ritual or liturgy practiced in a given church, diocese, etc.11. Lawa) the enjoyment of property, as from occupying, employing, or exercising itb) [infl. by OFr ues, gain < L opus, a work] profit, benefit, or advantage, esp. that from lands and tenements held in trust by another——————have no use for1. to have no need of2. to have no wish to deal with; be impatient with☆ 3. to have no affection or respect for; dislike strongly——————in usebeing used——————make use ofto use; have occasion to use——————put to useto use; find a use forSYN.- 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 ]
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.