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Definition of use up - 6 dictionary results

use

  [v. yooz or, for past tense form of 9, yoost; n. yoos] verb, used, us⋅ing, noun
Use use up 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 up
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.
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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.
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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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

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.
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Idioms & Phrases

use up

  1. Consume completely, as in The kids used up all their money playing video games. [Late 1700s]

  2. Exhaust, tire out, as in I'm totally used up from digging that hole. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

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