use

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “In his submission to the UN, 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.”

2. (uncountable)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. (uncountable)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. (countable, uncountable)A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

   “This tool has many uses.”

   “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.”

5. (countable, uncountable)Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

   “I have no further use for these textbooks.”

6. (countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable)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.”

7. (archaic, countable, uncountable)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.”

8. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

   “O Caesar! these things are beyond all use.”

9. (countable, uncountable)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.”

10. (countable, uncountable)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.

verb

1. (transitive)To utilize or employ.

   “Use this knife to slice the bread.”

   “We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.”

   “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.”

2. (often, transitive, with-up)To utilize or employ.

   “I used the money they allotted me.”

   “We should use up most of the fuel.”

   “She used all the time allotted to complete the test.”

3. (transitive)To utilize or employ.

   “You never cared about me; you just used me!”

   “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.”

4. (transitive)To utilize or employ.

   “He uses cocaine.”

   “I have never used drugs.”

5. (intransitive)To utilize or employ.

   “Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.”

6. (transitive)To utilize or employ.

   “I could use a drink.”

   “My car could use a new coat of paint.”

7. (transitive)To utilize or employ.

   “I use they/them pronouns.”

   “The "Older" [butch] group is maintained by three administrators who all use she/her pronouns and two moderators, one of whom uses they'them pronouns while the other uses she/her.”

8. 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.”

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

   “It is not without some difficulty, that a man born in society can form an idea of such savages, and their condition; and unless he has used himself to abstract thinking, he can hardly represent to himself such a state of simplicity, in which man can have so few desires, and no appetites roving beyond the immediate call of untaught nature […]”

   “1742, Samuel Richardson, Pamela, London: S. Richardson, 4th edition, Volume 3, Letter 12, p. 53, So that reading constantly, and thus using yourself to write, and enjoying besides the Benefit of a good Memory, every thing you heard or read, became your own […]”

   “1769, John Leland, Discourses on Various Subjects, London: W. Johnston and J. Dodsley, Volume 1, Discourse 16, p. 311, […] we must be constant and faithful to our Words and Promises, and use ourselves to be so even in smaller Matters […]”

   “We are not long in using ourselves to changes in life.”

   “The family troubles, she thought, were easier for every one than for her—even for poor dear mamma, because she had always used herself to not enjoying.”

10. (intransitive)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.”

    “For in the Rites of funeration they did use to anoint the dead body, with Aromatick Spices and Oyntments, before they buried them.”

    “I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with the secret affairs of my state; they are not within a woman’s province.”

11. (dated)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.”

    “If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men / Lov’d, honour’d, fear’d me, thou alone could hate me / Thy Husband, slight me, sell me, forgo me; / How wouldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby / Deceivable […]”

    “Cato has used me Ill: He has refused / His Daughter Marcia to my ardent Vows.”

12. (obsolete, reflexive)To behave, act, comport oneself.

    “1551, Thomas More, Utopia, London: B. Alsop & T. Fawcet, 1639, “Of Bond-men, Sicke persons, Wedlocke, and divers other matters,” page 231, They live together lovingly: For no Magistrate is either haughty or fearefull. Fathers they be called, and like fathers they use themselves.”

    “c. 1558, George Cavendish, The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, cardinal, edited by Grace H. M. Simpson, London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1901, page 57, I pray to God that this may be a sufficient admonition unto thee to use thyself more wisely hereafter, for assure thyself that if thou dost not amend thy prodigality, thou wilt be the last Earl of our house.”