used

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.

1. 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.

3. 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.

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.

1. tv. & in.
   to use (drugs); to take drugs habitually. (Drugs and now widely known.) : I tried to stop using, but I couldn't.