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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

use.

The act of using.

3 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/juːs/Received-Pronunciation/jus/Canada, General-American[jɪu̯s]Canada, General-American/(j)ɪu̯s/
  1. The act of using.

    countable · uncountable
    The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
  2. The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.

    uncountable
  3. Usefulness, utility, benefit; purpose, point.

    uncountable
    What's the use of a law that nobody follows?
    There's no use in spewing a million words about it; whatever will be, will be.
  4. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

    countable · uncountable
    This tool has many uses.
  5. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

    countable · uncountable
    I have no further use for these textbooks, but we may have use for all these other things later.
  6. Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.

    countable · obsolete · rare · uncountable
  7. Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  8. Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  9. A special form of a rite adopted for use in a particular context, often a diocese.

    countable · uncountable
    the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the York use; the Ordinariate use
  10. 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.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt-der.? Proto-Italic *oitōr Latin ūtor Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin ūsus Old French usbor. Middle English use English use Inherited from Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin ūsus (“use, custom, skill, habit”), from past participle stem of ūtor (“use”). Displaced native Middle English note (“use”) (see note) from Old English notu; Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt; as well as Old English fricu and Old English sidu.

verb/juːz/Received-Pronunciation/juz/Canada, General-American[jɪu̯z]Canada, General-American/(j)ɪu̯z/
  1. To utilize or employ. To employ; to apply; to utilize.

    transitive
    Use this knife to slice the bread.
    We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
  2. To utilize or employ. To expend; to consume by employing.

    often · transitive · with-up
    I used the money they allotted me.
    We should use up most of the fuel.
  3. To utilize or employ. To exploit.

    transitive
    You never cared about me; you just used me!
  4. To utilize or employ. To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.

    transitive
    He uses cocaine.
    I have never used drugs.
  5. To utilize or employ. To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.

    intransitive
    Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.
  6. To utilize or employ. To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.

    transitive
    I could use a drink.
    My car could use a new coat of paint.
  7. To utilize or employ. To suggest or request that other people employ a specific set of gender pronouns when referring to the subject.

    transitive
    I use they/them pronouns.
  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
  9. To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.) To accustom oneself.

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

    intransitive
    I used to get things done.
  11. To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.

    dated
    to use an animal cruelly
  12. To behave, act, comport oneself.

    obsolete · reflexive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Latin ūtī Early Medieval Latin ūsō Early Medieval Latin ūsāre Old French userbor. Middle English usen English use Inherited from Middle English usen, from Old French user (“use, employ, practice”), from Medieval 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).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.