 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
used
adjective
1: employed in accomplishing something; "the principle of
surprise is the most used and misused of all the
principles of war"- H.H.Arnold & I.C.Eaker [ant: {misused}]
2: of persons; taken advantage of; "after going out of his way
to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but
used" [syn: {exploited}, {ill-used}, {put-upon}, {victimized},
{victimised}]
3: previously used or owned by another; "bought a secondhand
(or used) car" [syn: {secondhand}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Use \Use\, verb (used with an object) [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. --Shak.
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.
Usage: {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.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
43 Moby Thesaurus words for "used":
ablated, acquainted with, adapted to, applied, by the board,
cast-off, consumed, depleted, dissipated, down the drain, employed,
eroded, exercised, exerted, expended, familiar with, forfeit,
forfeited, gone, gone to waste, hand-me-down, in use,
irretrievable, long-lost, lost, lost to, misspent, not new,
occupied, old, out the window, pawed-over, run to seed, secondhand,
shrunken, spent, squandered, unnew, used to, used up, wasted, worn,
worn away
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