Definition of 'use'
Word forms: 3rd person singular present tense uses
, present participle using
, past tense, past participle used
1. verb
3. verb
4. verb
5. verb
If you use a particular word or expression, you say or write it, because it has the meaning that you want to express.
When Johnson talks about cuts, he uses words like 'target price' and 'efficiency
payments'. [VERB noun]
6. verb
If you use a particular name, you call yourself by that name, especially when it is not the name that you usually call yourself.
7. verb
If you say that someone uses people, you disapprove of them because they make others do things for them in order to benefit or gain some advantage from it, and not because they care about the other people.
[disapproval]
8. See also used1
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word forms: plural uses
3. variable noun [oft adjective NOUN]
If something has a particular use, it is intended for a particular purpose.
[Also + in] 4. uncountable noun [oft the NOUN]
5. countable noun
A use of a word is a particular meaning that it has or a particular way in which it can
be used.
6. uncountable noun
7.
See for the use of
8.
See have its uses
9.
See in use
10.
See make use of
11.
12.
See it's no use
13.
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
use in British English
verb (juːz
) (transitive)
4.
to behave towards in a particular way for one's own ends
he uses people
noun (juːs
)
7.
the act of using or the state of being used
the carpet wore out through constant use
8.
10.
an instance or manner of using
13.
the purpose for which something is used; end
14. Christianity
a distinctive form of liturgical or ritual observance, esp one that is traditional in a Church or group of Churches
15.
16. law
18. philosophy, logic, linguistics
the occurrence of an expression in such a context that it performs its own linguistic function rather than being itself referred to. In " Fido" refers to Fido, the name Fido is 'used' only on the second occurrence, first being mentioned
Compare mention (sense 7) See also material mode 19. See have no use for
20. See make use of
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13: from Old French user to use, from Latin ūsus having used, from ūtī to use
Word Frequency
use in American English
verb transitiveWord forms: used (juzd
; with `to' usually ˈjustə
) or ˈusing
2.
to practice; exercise
to use one's judgment
4.
to consume, expend, or exhaust by use
often with up to use up one's energy
verb intransitive
8.
to be accustomed; be wont
now only in the past tense, with an infinitive, meaning “did at one time” he used to live in Iowa
noun
10.
the act of using or the state of being used
12.
the right or permission to use
to grant a neighbor the use of one's car
14.
an instance or way of using
15.
16.
the object, end, or purpose for which something is used
17.
function, service, or benefit
18.
constant, continued, customary, or habitual employment, practice, or exercise, or an instance of this; custom; habit; practice; wont
Idioms:
SYNONYMY NOTE: use implies the putting of a thing (or, usually in an opprobrious sense, a person regarded
as a passive thing) into action or service so as to accomplish an end [to use a pencil, a suggestion, etc.; he used his brother to advance himself]; employ, a somewhat more elevated term, implies the putting to useful work of something not
in use at that moment [to employ a vacant lot as a playground] and, with reference to persons, suggests a providing of work and pay [she employs five accountants]; utilize implies the putting of something to a practical or profitable use [to utilize chemical byproducts]Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME usen < OFr user < VL *usare < L usus, pp. of uti, to use; (sense 20b) infl. by OFr ues, gain < L opus, a work
Word Frequency
use in American English
(verb juːz, or, for pt. form of 9 juːst, noun juːs) (verb used, using)
transitive verb
1.
to employ for some purpose; put into service; make use of
to use a knife
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
7.
to habituate or accustom
8. archaic
to practice habitually or customarily; make a practice of
intransitive verb
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
11. See use up
noun
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. 13. employment, utilization, application, exercise. 14. handling.USAGE See usage.13.
the state of being employed or used
14.
an instance or way of employing or using something
proper use of the tool
the painter's use of color
15.
a way of being employed or used; a purpose for which something is used
He was of temporary use
The instrument has different uses
16.
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
17.
service or advantage in or for being employed or used; utility or usefulness
of no practical use
19.
occasion or need, as for something to be employed or used
Would you have any use for another calendar?
20.
continued, habitual, or customary employment or practice; custom
to follow the prevailing use of such occasions
21. 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
22. Liturgy
the distinctive form of ritual or of any liturgical observance used in a particular
church, diocese, community, etc
23.
usual or customary experience
24. See have no use for
25. See make use of
26. See of no use
27. See put to use
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word 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]Examples of 'use' in a sentence
use
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In other languages
use
British English: use
/juːs/ NOUN
Your use of something is the action or fact of your using it.
The treatment does not involve the use of any artificial drugs.
- American English: use /yˈus/
- Arabic: اِسْتِخْدَام
- Brazilian Portuguese: uso
- Chinese: 使用
- Croatian: uporaba
- Czech: užívání použití
- Danish: brug
- Dutch: gebruik
- European Spanish: uso
- Finnish: käyttö
- French: utilisation
- German: Verwendung
- Greek: χρήση
- Italian: uso
- Japanese: 使用
- Korean: 사용
- Norwegian: bruk
- Polish: użytek
- European Portuguese: uso
- Romanian: utilizare
- Russian: использование
- Latin American Spanish: uso
- Swedish: användning
- Thai: การใช้
- Turkish: kullanım
- Ukrainian: використання
- Vietnamese: việc sử dụng
British English: use
/juːz/ VERB
If you use something, you do something with it.
Use a cloth to clean the table.
- American English: use /yˈuz/
- Arabic: يَسْتَخْدِمُ
- Brazilian Portuguese: usar
- Chinese: 使用
- Croatian: rabiti
- Czech: použít
- Danish: bruge
- Dutch: gebruiken
- European Spanish: usar
- Finnish: käyttää
- French: utiliser
- German: verwenden
- Greek: χρησιμοποιώ
- Italian: usare
- Japanese: 使用する
- Korean: 사용하다
- Norwegian: bruke
- Polish: użyć
- European Portuguese: usar
- Romanian: a folosi
- Russian: использовать
- Latin American Spanish: usar
- Swedish: använda
- Thai: ใช้
- Turkish: kullanmak
- Ukrainian: використовувати
- Vietnamese: sử dụng
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