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Webster 1913 Edition

Use

Use

,
Noun.
[OE.
us
use, usage, L.
usus
, from
uti
, p. p.
usus
, to use. See
Use
,
Verb.
T.
]
1.
The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one’s service; the state of being so employed or applied; application; employment; conversion to some purpose;
as, the
use
of a pen in writing; his machines are in general
use
.
Books can never teach the
use
of books.
Bacon.
This Davy serves you for good
uses
.
Shakespeare
When he framed
All things to man's delightful
use
.
Milton.
2.
Occasion or need to employ; necessity;
as, to have no further
use
for a book
.
Shak.
3.
Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of being used; usefulness; utility.
God made two great lights, great for their
use

To man.
Milton.
'T is
use
alone that sanctifies expense.
Pope.
4.
Continued or repeated practice; customary employment; usage; custom; manner; habit.
Let later age that noble
use
envy.
Spenser.
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the
uses
of this world!
Shakespeare
5.
Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
[R.]
O Caesar! these things are beyond all
use
.
Shakespeare
6.
(Eccl.)
The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese;
as, the Sarum, or Canterbury,
use
; the Hereford
use
; the York
use
; the Roman
use
; etc
.
From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one
use
.
Pref. to Book of Common Prayer.
7.
The premium paid for the possession and employment of borrowed money; interest; usury.
[Obs.]
Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute,
use
and principal, to him.
Jer. Taylor.
8.
[In this sense probably a corruption of OF.
oes
, fr. L.
opus
need, business, employment, work. Cf.
Operate
.]
(Law)
The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and limited to A for the use of B.
9.
(Forging)
A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging, as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.
Contingent use
, or
Springing use
(Law)
,
a use to come into operation on a future uncertain event.
–
In use
.
(a)
In employment; in customary practice observance.
(b)
In heat; – said especially of mares.
J. H. Walsh.
–
Of no use
,
useless; of no advantage.
–
Of use
,
useful; of advantage; profitable.
–
Out of use
,
not in employment.
–
Resulting use
(Law)
,
a use, which, being limited by the deed, expires or can not vest, and results or returns to him who raised it, after such expiration.
–
Secondary use
, or
Shifting use
,
a use which, though executed, may change from one to another by circumstances.
Blackstone.
–
Statute of uses
(Eng. Law)
,
the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap. 10, which transfers uses into possession, or which unites the use and possession.
–
To make use of
,
To put to use
,
to employ; to derive service from; to use.

Use

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Used
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Using
.]
[OE.
usen
, F.
user
to use, use up, wear out, LL.
usare
to use, from L.
uti
, p. p.
usus
, to use, OL.
oeti
,
oesus
; of uncertain origin. Cf.
Utility
.]
1.
To make use of; to convert to one's service; to avail one's self of; to employ; to put a purpose;
as, to
use
a plow; to
use
a chair; to
use
time; to
use
flour for food; to
use
water for irrigation.
Launcelot Gobbo,
use
your legs.
Shakespeare
Some other means I have which may be
used
.
Milton.
2.
To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat;
as, to
use
a beast cruelly
.
“I will use him well.”
Shak.
How wouldst thou
use
me now?
Milton.
Cato has
used
me ill.
Addison.
3.
To practice customarily; to make a practice of;
as, to
use
diligence in business
.
Use
hospitality one to another.
1 Pet. iv. 9.
4.
To accustom; to habituate; to render familiar by practice; to inure; – employed chiefly in the passive participle;
as, men
used
to cold and hunger; soldiers
used
to hardships and danger
.
I am so
used
in the fire to blow.
Chaucer.
Thou with thy compeers,
Used
to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels.
Milton.
To use one's self
,
to behave.
[Obs.]
“Pray, forgive me, if I have used myself unmannerly.”
Shak.
–
To use up
.
(a)
To consume or exhaust by using; to leave nothing of;
as,
to use up
the supplies
.
(b)
To exhaust; to tire out; to leave no capacity of force or use in; to overthrow;
as, he was
used up
by fatigue
.
[Colloq.]
Syn. – Employ.
–
Use
,
Employ
. We use a thing, or make use of it, when we derive from it some enjoyment or service. We employ it when we turn that service into a particular channel. We use words to express our general meaning; we employ certain technical terms in reference to a given subject. To make use of, implies passivity in the thing;
as, to
make use of
a pen
; and hence there is often a material difference between the two words when applied to persons. To speak of “making use of another” generally implies a degrading idea, as if we had used him as a tool; while employ has no such sense. A confidential friend is employed to negotiate; an inferior agent is made use of on an intrigue.
I would, my son, that thou wouldst
use
the power
Which thy discretion gives thee, to control
And manage all.
Cowper.
To study nature will thy time
employ
:
Knowledge and innocence are perfect joy.
Dryden.

Use

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be wont or accustomed; to be in the habit or practice;
as, he
used
to ride daily
; – now disused in the present tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between “use to,” and “used to.”
They
use
to place him that shall be their captain on a stone.
Spenser.
Fears
use
to be represented in an imaginary.
Bacon.
Thus we
use
to say, it is the room that smokes, when indeed it is the fire in the room.
South.
Now Moses
used
to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp.
Ex. xxxiii. 7 (Rev. Ver.)
2.
To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell; – sometimes followed by of.
[Obs.]
“Where never foot did use.”
Spenser.
He
useth
every day to a merchant's house.
B. Jonson.
Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers
use

Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Use

USE

,
Noun.
[L. urus.]
1.
The act of handling or employing in any manner, and for any purpose, but especially for a profitable purpose; as the use of a pen in writing; the use of books in study; the use of a spade in digging. Use is of two kinds; that which employs a thing, without destroying it or its form, as the use of a book or of a farm; or it is the employment of a thing which destroys or wastes it, as the use of bread for provision; the use of water for turning a mill.
2.
Employment; application of any thing to a purpose, good or bad. It is our duty to make a faithful use of our opportunities and advantages for improvement.
Books can never teach the use of books.
3.
Usefulness; utility; advantage; production of benefit. the value of a thing is to be estimated by its use. His friendship has been of use to me.
Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.
4.
Need of employment, or occasion to employ. I have no further use for this book.
5.
Power of receiving advantage. [Usual.]
6.
Continued practice or employment.
Sweetness, truth, and every grace, which time and use are wont to teach.
7.
Custom; common occurrence.
O Cesar, these things are beyond all use. [Usual.]
8.
Interest; the premium paid for the possession and employment of borrowed money.
9.
In law, the benefit or profit of lands and tenements. use imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is intended, shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and limited to A for the use of B.
Cestuy que use, in law, the person who has the use of lands and tenements.
Contingent use, in law. A contingent or springing use, is where the use is suspended on a future event.
Resulting use, is one which, being limited by the deed, expires or cannot vest, and results or returns to him who raised it, after such expiration.
Secondary or shifting use, is that which though executed, may change from one to another by circumstances.
1.
In use, in employment; as, the book is now in use.
2.
In customary practice or observance. Such words, rites and ceremonies, have long been in use.

USE

,
Verb.
T.
s as z. [L. uter, usus; Gr.]
1.
To employ; to handle, hold, occupy or move for some purpose; as, to use a plow; to use a chair; to use a book; to use time. Most men use the right hand with more convenience than the left, and hence its name, right.
2.
To waste, consume or exhaust by employment; as, to use flour for food; to use beer for drink; to use water for irrigation, or for turning the wheel of a mill.
3.
To accustom; to habituate; to render familiar by practice; as men used to cold and hunger; soldiers used to hardships and danger.
4.
To treat; as, to use one well or ill; to use people with kindness and civility; to use a beast with cruelty.
Cato has us'd me ill.
5.
To practice customarily.
Use hospitality one to another. 1Peter 4.
To use one's self, to behave. Obs.

USE

,
Verb.
I.
s as z.
1.
To be accustomed; to practice customarily.
They use to place him that shall be their captain on a stone.
2.
To be wont.
Fears use to be represented in an imaginary fashion.
3.
To frequent; to inhabit.
Where never foot did use.

Definition 2024

use

use

See also: usé

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: yo͞os, IPA(key): /juːs/
  • (US) enPR: yo͞os, IPA(key): /jus/
  • Rhymes: -uːs

Noun

use ‎(countable and uncountable, plural uses)

  1. The act of using.
    • 2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6:
      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.
    the use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations;  there is no use for your invention‎
  2. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.
    What's the use of a law that nobody follows?‎
    • Milton
      God made two great lights, great for their use / To man.
    • Alexander Pope
      'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.
  3. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.
    • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:
      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.
    This tool has many uses.‎
  4. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.
    I have no further use for these textbooks.
  5. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1
      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 Taylor
      Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.
  6. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
    • Spenser
      Let later age that noble use envy.
    • Shakespeare
      How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / Seem to me all the uses of this world!
  7. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
    • Shakespeare
      O Caesar! these things are beyond all use.
  8. (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 Prayer
      From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use.
  9. (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
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

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”). Displaced 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).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: yo͞oz, IPA(key): /juːz/
  • (US) enPR: yo͞oz, IPA(key): /juz/
Rhymes: -uːz
Homophones: ewes, yews, yous, youse

Verb

use ‎(third-person singular simple present uses, present participle using, simple past and past participle used)

  1. 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 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      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 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
      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
  6. (intransitive, now rare, literary) To habitually do; to be wont to do.
    to use diligence in business‎
    • Bible, 1 Peter iv.9
      Use hospitality one to another.
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, 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.
    • 1693, Sir Norman Knatchbull, Annotations upon some difficult texts in all the books of the New Testament
      For in the Rites of funeration they did use to anoint the dead body, with Aromatick Spices and Oyntments, before they buried them.
  7. (intransitive, past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to.
    I used to get things done.‎
  8. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.
    Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.‎
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

References

  • use in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: light · felt · since · #250: use · used · began · thy

Anagrams

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

Etymology

Contraction of us + hii.

Pronunciation

  • (Zurich) IPA(key): /ˈuzə/

Adverb

use

  1. out
    • 1903, Robert Walser, Der Teich:
      Aber i muess pressiere, daß i bald fertig wirde. Nächär chani use go spiele.
      But I need to hurry so I can finish soon. Then I can go out and play.

Asturian

Verb

use

  1. first-person singular present subjunctive of usar
  2. third-person singular present subjunctive of usar

Chuukese

Etymology

u- +‎ -se

Pronoun

use

  1. I do not

Adjective

use

  1. I am not
  2. I was not

Related terms

Present and past tense Negative tense Future Negative future Distant future Negative determinate
Singular First person ua use upwe usap upwap ute
Second person ka, ke kose, kese kopwe, kepwe kosap, kesap kopwap, kepwap kote, kete
Third person a ese epwe esap epwap ete
Plural First person aua (exclusive)
sia (inclusive) 		ause (exclusive)
sise (inclusive) 		aupwe (exclusive)
sipwe (inclusive) 		ausap (exclusive)
sisap (inclusive) 		aupwap (exclusive)
sipwap (inclusive) 		aute (exclusive)
site (inclusive)
Second person oua ouse oupwe ousap oupwap oute
Third person ra, re rese repwe resap repwap rete

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /yz/

Verb

use

  1. first-person singular present indicative of user
  2. third-person singular present indicative of user
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of user
  4. first-person singular present subjunctive of user
  5. second-person singular imperative of user

Anagrams

Latin

Participle

ūse

  1. vocative masculine singular of ūsus

Manx

Noun

use m ‎(genitive singular use, plural useyn)

  1. (finance) interest; usury

Derived terms

Portuguese

Verb

use

  1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of usar
  2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present subjunctive of usar
  3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of usar
  4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of usar

Spanish

Verb

use

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of usar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of usar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of usar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of usar.

Etymology

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

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