use

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   The act of using.

   • The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
   • […]long john underwear, heavy socks, rubber boots, thick flannel shirts, oilskins — it all wore and tore and sprung holes from the hard use of battling storm and bad weather.
2. 2

   The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.

   • Heavy alcohol use (2.5 drinks per day or more) at any age is unhealthy and should be avoided.
3. 3

   Usefulness, benefit.

   • What's the use of a law that nobody follows?
   • God made two great lights, great for their use / To man.
   • 'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.
4. ›+ 12 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A function

      A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

      • This tool has many uses.
   2. 5

      Occasion or need to employ

      Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

      • I have no further use for these textbooks.
   3. 6

      Interest for lent money

      Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.

      • 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: [...]
      • Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.
   4. 7

      Continued or repeated practice

      Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.

      • Let later age that noble vse enuie,
      • How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / Seem to me all the uses of this world!
      • For the next yeere 1527. the negotiations of a Councell were buried in silence; according to the vse of humane affaires, that in the time of warre, prouision for lawes hath no place.
   5. 8

      Common occurrence

      Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

      • O Caesar! these things are beyond all use.
   6. 9

      A special form of a rite adopted for use in a particular context, often a diocese.

      • the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the York use; the Ordinariate use
      • From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use.
   7. 10

      A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and…

      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.

   8. 11

      To utilize or employ.

      • Use this knife to slice the bread.
      • We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
   9. 12

      To accustom

      To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.)

      • soldiers who are used to hardships and danger
      • to use the soldiers to hardships and danger
      • Thou with thy compeers, / Used to the yoke, draw’st his triumphant wheels.
   10. 13

       To habitually do

       To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)

       • I used to get things done.
       • 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.
       • Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
   11. 14

       To behave toward

       To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.

       • to use an animal cruelly
       • See who it is: and, now the battle’s ended, If friend or foe, let him be gently used.
       • Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
   12. 15

       To behave, act, comport oneself.

The neighborhood

• neighborfair use
• neighbormisuse
• neighborreuse
• neighborunderuse