Use

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: yoÍžos, IPA: /juːs/
• US enPR: yoÍžos, IPA: /jus/
• Rhymes: -uːs

Alternative forms

• uÅ¿e archaic

From Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin usus ("use, custom, skill, habit"), from past participle stem of uti ("use"). Replaced native Middle English note ("use") (See note) from Old English notu, and Middle English nutte ("use") from Old English nytt.

Full definition of use

Noun

1. The act of using.
• 2013-06-07, Ed Pilkington, ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told, In his submission to the UN, Christof Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
2. the use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations;  there is no use for your invention
3. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.
   What's the use of a law that nobody follows?
• MiltonGod made two great lights, great for their use
  To man.
• Alexander Pope'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.
4. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.
• 2013-07-26, Leo Hickman, How algorithms rule the world, The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.
5. This tool has many uses.
6. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.I have no further use for these textbooks.
7. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
• 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing,DON PEDRO. Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signior Benedick.BEATRICE. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for a single one: ...
• Jeremy TaylorThou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.
8. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
• SpenserLet later age that noble use envy.
• ShakespeareHow weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
  Seem to me all the uses of this world!
9. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
• ShakespeareO Caesar! these things are beyond all use.
10. (religion) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford use; the York use; the Roman use; etc.
• Book of Common PrayerFrom henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use.
11. (forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

Synonyms

• (act of using) employment, usage, note, nait
• (usefulness) benefit, good, point, usefulness, utility, note, nait

Derived terms

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: yoÍžoz, IPA: /juːz/
• US enPR: yoÍžoz, IPA: /juz/

From Middle English usen, from Old French user ("use, employ, practice"), from Vulgar Latin *usare ("use"), frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti ("to use"). Replaced native Middle English noten, nutten ("to use") (from Old English notian, nēotan, nyttian) and Middle English brouken, bruken ("to use, enjoy") (from Old English brūcan).

Verb

1. (archaic) To accustom; to habituate.
   soldiers who are used to hardships and danger
• John Milton (1608-1674)Thou with thy compeers,
  Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels.
2. (transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.
   Use this knife to slice the bread.
   We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
• 2013, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, Wild Plants to the Rescue, Plant breeding is always a numbers game....The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
3. (transitive, often with “up”) To exhaust the supply of; to consume by employing
   We should use up most of the fuel.
4. (transitive) To exploit.
   You never cared about me, you just used me!
• 2013, Katie L. Burke, In the News, Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.
5. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
   to use an animal cruelly
• John Milton (1608-1674)How wouldst thou use me now?
• Joseph Addison (1672-1719)Cato has used me ill.
6. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually do; to be wont to do.
   to use diligence in business
• Bible, 1 Peter iv. 9Use hospitality one to another.
• 1603, John Florio, trans. Michel de Montaigne, Essays, I.48:Peter Pol, doctor in divinitie used to sit upon his mule, who as Monstrelet reporteth, was wont to ride up and downe the streets of Paris, ever sitting sideling, as women use.
7. (intransitive, past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to.
   I used to get things done.

Synonyms

• (employ, apply, utilize) engage, utilise
• (exploit) take advantage of

Derived terms

Anagrams

• SEU
• sue, Sue
• uÅ¿es