Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

use

 - 11 dictionary results

use

  [v. yooz or, for past tense form of 9, yoost; n. yoos] verb, used, us⋅ing, noun
Use use in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of: to use a knife.
2. to avail oneself of; apply to one's own purposes: to use the facilities.
3. to expend or consume in use: We have used the money provided.
4. to treat or behave toward: He did not use his employees with much consideration.
5. to take unfair advantage of; exploit: to use people to gain one's own ends.
6. to drink, smoke, or ingest habitually: to use drugs.
7. to habituate or accustom.
8. Archaic. to practice habitually or customarily; make a practice of.
–verb (used without object)
9. to be accustomed, wont, or customarily found (used with an infinitive expressed or understood, and, except in archaic use, now only in the past): He used to go every day.
10. Archaic. to resort, stay, or dwell customarily.
–noun
11. the act of employing, using, or putting into service: the use of tools.
12. the state of being employed or used.
13. an instance or way of employing or using something: proper use of the tool; the painter's use of color.
14. a way of being employed or used; a purpose for which something is used: He was of temporary use. The instrument has different uses.
15. the power, right, or privilege of employing or using something: to lose the use of the right eye; to be denied the use of a library card.
16. service or advantage in or for being employed or used; utility or usefulness: of no practical use.
17. help; profit; resulting good: What's the use of pursuing the matter?
18. occasion or need, as for something to be employed or used: Would you have any use for another calendar?
19. continued, habitual, or customary employment or practice; custom: to follow the prevailing use of such occasions.
20. Law.
a. the enjoyment of property, as by the employment, occupation, or exercise of it.
b. the benefit or profit of lands and tenements in the possession of another who simply holds them for the beneficiary.
c. the equitable ownership of land to which the legal title is in another's name.
21. Liturgy. the distinctive form of ritual or of any liturgical observance used in a particular church, diocese, community, etc.
22. usual or customary experience.
—Verb phrase
23. use up,
a. to consume entirely.
b. to exhaust of vigor or usefulness; finish: By the end of the war he felt used up and sick of life.
—Idioms
24. have no use for,
a. to have no occasion or need for: She appears to have no use for the city.
b. to refuse to tolerate; discount: He had no use for his brother.
c. to have a distaste for; dislike: He has no use for dictators.
25. make use of, to use for one's own purposes; employ: Charitable organizations will make use of your old furniture and clothing.
26. of no use, of no advantage or help: It's of no use to look for that missing earring. It's no use asking her to go. Also, no use.
27. put to use, to apply; employ to advantage: What a shame that no one has put that old deserted mansion to use!
Origin:
1175–1225; (v.) ME usen < OF user < L ūsus, ptp. of ūtī to use; (n.) ME < OF < L ūsus act of using a thing, application, employment, equiv. to ūt-, s. of ūtī to use + -tus suffix of v. action, with tt > s

Synonyms:
1. Use, utilize mean to make something serve one's purpose. Use is the general word: to use a telephone; to use a saw and other tools; to use one's eyes; to use eggs in cooking. (What is used often has depreciated or been diminished, sometimes completely consumed: a used automobile; All the butter has been used.) As applied to persons, use implies some selfish or sinister purpose: to use another to advance oneself. Utilize implies practical or profitable use: to utilize the means at hand, a modern system of lighting. 3. exhaust, waste. 7. familiarize, inure. 12. employment, utilization, application, exercise. 13. handling.

Usage note:
See usage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To use
use   (yōōz)   
v.   used, us·ing, us·es

v.   tr.

  1. To put into service or apply for a purpose; employ.

  2. To avail oneself of; practice: use caution.

  3. To conduct oneself toward; treat or handle: "the peace offering of a man who once used you unkindly" (Laurence Sterne).

  4. To seek or achieve an end by means of; exploit: used their highly placed friends to gain access to the president; felt he was being used by seekers of favor.

  5. To take or consume; partake of: She rarely used alcohol.

v.   intr. (yōōs, yōōst)
Used in the past tense followed by to in order to indicate a former state, habitual practice, or custom: Mail service used to be faster.
n.   (yōōs)

    1. The act of using; the application or employment of something for a purpose: with the use of a calculator; skilled in the use of the bow and arrow.

    2. The condition or fact of being used: a chair in regular use.

    3. The permission, privilege, or benefit of using something: gave us the use of their summerhouse.

    4. The power or ability to use something: lost the use of one arm.

    5. Enjoyment of property, as by occupying or exercising it.

    6. The benefit or profit of lands and tenements of which the legal title and possession are vested in another.

    7. The arrangement establishing the equitable right to such benefits and profits.

  2. The manner of using; usage: learned the proper use of power tools.

    1. The permission, privilege, or benefit of using something: gave us the use of their summerhouse.

    2. The power or ability to use something: lost the use of one arm.

    3. Enjoyment of property, as by occupying or exercising it.

    4. The benefit or profit of lands and tenements of which the legal title and possession are vested in another.

    5. The arrangement establishing the equitable right to such benefits and profits.

  4. The need or occasion to use or employ: have no use for these old clothes.

  5. The quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end; usefulness: tried to be of use in the kitchen.

  6. A purpose for which something is used: a tool with several uses; a pretty bowl, but of what use is it?

  7. Gain or advantage; good: There's no use in discussing it. What's the use?

  8. Accustomed or usual procedure or practice.

  9. Law

    1. Enjoyment of property, as by occupying or exercising it.

    2. The benefit or profit of lands and tenements of which the legal title and possession are vested in another.

    3. The arrangement establishing the equitable right to such benefits and profits.

  10. A liturgical form practiced in a particular church, ecclesiastical district, or community.

  11. Obsolete Usual occurrence or experience.

Phrasal Verb(s):
use upTo consume completely: used up all our money.

[Middle English usen, from Old French user, from Vulgar Latin *ūsāre, frequentative of Latin ūtī. N., Middle English, from Old French us, from Latin ūsus, from past participle of ūtī.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to avail oneself of someone or something in order to make him, her, or it useful, functional, or beneficial. To use is to put into service or apply for a purpose: uses a hearing aid; used the press secretary as spokesperson; using a stick to stir the paint.
Employ is often interchangeable with use: She employed her education to maximum advantage.
It can also denote engaging or maintaining the services of another: "When men are employed, they are best contented" (Benjamin Franklin).
Utilize is especially appropriate in the narrower sense of making something profitable or of finding new and practical uses for it: Waterpower was once widely utilized to generate electricity. See Also Synonyms at habit.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Main Entry:  USE1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  See US English
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
use [juz]

  1. tv. & in.
    to use (drugs); to take drugs habitually. (Drugs and now widely known.) : I tried to stop using, but I couldn't.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

use  (v.)
c.1240, from O.Fr. user "use, employ, practice," from V.L. *usare "use," frequentative form of pp. stem of L. uti "to use," in Old L. oeti "use, employ, exercise, perform," of unknown origin. Replaced O.E. brucan (see brook (v.)). Used "second-hand" is recorded from 1595. User is recorded from 1935 in the narcotics sense, 1967 in the computer sense. User-friendly (1977) is said in some sources to have been coined by software designer Harlan Crowder as early as 1972. Verbal phrase used to "formerly did or was" (as in I used to love her) represents a construction attested from 1303, and common from c.1400, but now surviving only in p.t. form. The pronunciation is affected by the t- of to.

use  (n.)
c.1225, from O.Fr. us, from L. usus "use, custom, skill, habit," from pp. stem of uti (see use (v.)). Useful is recorded from 1595; useless is first attested 1593.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: use
Pronunciation: 'yüs
Function: noun
1 a : an arrangement in which property is granted to another with the trust and confidence that the grantor or another is entitled to the beneficial enjoyment of it —see also TRUST Statute of Uses in the IMPORTANT LAWS section
NOTE: Uses originated in early English law and were the origin of the modern trust. Uses became popular in medieval England, where they were often secretly employed as a method of evading laws (as those prohibiting mortmain) and penalties (as attainder) and to defeat creditors. In response, the Statute of Uses was enacted in 1535. The purpose of the Statute was to execute the use, investing the legal ownership of the property in the cestui que use, or one entitled to the beneficial enjoyment, and abolishing the ownership of the grantee. The Statute did not have blanket application, however. Certain uses, particularly those in which the grantee was not merely a passive holder of the property, were not executed under the Statute. These uses were called trusts, and they were the basis of the modern trust. b : the right to the utilization and benefit of property to which legal title is held by another uses in early English law>; broadly : the fact or right of having the benefits and profits of property
beneficial use
: the use of a cestui que use analogous to a beneficial interest in a trust : USE 1b
re·sult·ing use
: a use that equity attributes back to a grantor when there is no person declared to receive it or no transfer of consideration
shift·ing use
: a use that is transferred or takes effect in derogation of some estate upon the happening of a future event
spring·ing use
: a use that arises upon the happening of a future event and is not in derogation of any other estate
2 : the utilization of property, resources, or services
beneficial use
1 : use of property that allows an owner to derive a benefit or profit in the exercise of a basic property right beneficial use of the property> —see also UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP —compare TAKING
2 : use of water for a reasonable or beneficial purpose consistent with the public interest beneficial use>
conditional use
: use of property in a zone for a particular purpose that is allowed under conditions set forth in a zoning ordinance : SPECIAL EXCEPTION
fair use
: a use of copyrighted material that does not constitute an infringement of the copyright provided the use is fair and reasonable and does not substantially impair the value of the work or the profits expected from it by its owner; also : the privilege of making a fair use of copyrighted work
NOTE: Among the factors determining if a use of a copyrighted work is a fair use are these: the purpose of the use, the character of the use (as in being commercial or educational in nature), the nature of the copyrighted work, and the amount of the work used.
non·con·form·ing use
: use of property in a manner that does not conform to the restrictions of a zoning law (as an ordinance); specifically : one in lawful existence when a restriction takes effect and so allowed to continue
public use
1 : use by or to the benefit of the public; broadly : use that serves a legitimate or conceivable public purpose public use, without just compensation —U.S. Constitution amendment V> —see also EMINENT DOMAIN —compare TAKING
NOTE: If a taking of property is not for public use then the consent of the owner is required.
2 : use of an invention by one who is under no limitation, restriction, or obligation of secrecy to the inventor
NOTE: Under federal law one is not entitled to a patent for an invention that was in public use more than a year prior to the date of application for the patent.
reasonable use
1 : a use of one's property or of water that is for a suitable and beneficial purpose and that does not lead to unreasonable interference with another's use of property or with the natural flow of water
2 a : a rule whereby one may alter the natural flow of a watercourse as part of the reasonable use of property even though some harm results to another landowner b : a rule whereby a use of the water under the surface of one's land that causes harm to an adjacent landowner is reasonable if made for a suitable purpose in connection with the overlying land
NOTE: This rule originated when cities began to use land in the country for wells that caused injury to adjacent farmers; the water was not for use there and so unreasonableness ultimately depended not on waste or harm but on the final destination of the water. c : a rule that recognizes a landowner as entitled to make a reasonable use of property if it does not cause unreasonable harm to another and that may be applied to the alteration of a watercourse, the drainage of surface water, and the use of water beneath the surface
3 : utilization of a motor vehicle in a manner that is not completely foreign to its purpose use of the car>

Main Entry: use
Pronunciation: 'yüz
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: used; us·ing
: to put into service : have enjoyment of —us·er noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

USE language
An early system on the IBM 1130.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16, May 1959].
(2004-09-14)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

use

In addition to the idioms beginning with use, also see have no use for; make use of; no use; put to good use. Also see under used.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia

use

in medieval English property law, the right of one person to take the profits of land belonging to another. It involved at least two and usually three persons. One man (A) would convey or enfeoff land to another (B) on the condition that the latter would use it not for his own benefit but for the benefit of a third man (C)-who could be A himself. C (or A), thus, had the profits-that is, the use-of the land and could treat the land as he pleased. This legal institution, which arose as early as the 11th century, came to be employed not only as a legitimate method of providing for property management and for conveyancing but also as a method of defrauding creditors, depriving feudal landlords of their dues, and permitting religious institutions to derive the benefit of land that they could not own directly.

Learn more about use with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see use on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way