 6 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
use
noun
1: the act of using; "he warned against the use of narcotic
drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers" [syn:
{usage}, {utilization}, {utilisation}, {employment}, {exercise}]
2: a particular service; "he put his knowledge to good use";
"patrons have their uses"
3: what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to
bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?"
[syn: {function}, {purpose}, {role}]
4: (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy
needs or in manufacturing; "the consumption of energy has
increased steadily" [syn: {consumption}, {economic
consumption}, {usance}, {use of goods and services}]
5: a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition;
"she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use
had hardened him to it" [syn: {habit}, {wont}]
6: (law) the exercise of the legal right to enjoy the benefits
of owning property; "we were given the use of his boat"
[syn: {enjoyment}]
7: exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's
own advantage; "his manipulation of his friends was
scandalous" [syn: {manipulation}]
verb
1: put into service; make work or employ (something) for a
particular purpose or for its inherent or natural
purpose; "use your head!"; "we only use Spanish at
home"; "I can't make use of this tool"; "Apply a
magnetic field here"; "This thinking was applied to many
projects"; "How do you utilize this tool?"; "I apply
this rule to get good results"; "use the plastic bags to
store the food"; "He doesn't know how to use a computer"
[syn: {utilize}, {utilise}, {apply}, {employ}]
2: take or consume (regularly or habitually); "She uses drugs
rarely" [syn: {habituate}]
3: seek or achieve an end by using to one's advantage; "She
uses her influential friends to get jobs"; "The
president's wife used her good connections"
4: use up, consume fully; "The legislature expended its time on
school questions" [syn: {expend}]
5: avail oneself to; "apply a principle"; "practice a
religion"; "use care when going down the stairs"; "use
your common sense"; "practice non-violent resistance"
[syn: {practice}, {apply}]
6: habitually do something (use only in the past tense); "She
used to call her mother every week but now she calls only
occasionally"; "I used to get sick when I ate in that
dining hall"; "They used to vacation in the Bahamas"
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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Use \Use\, verb (used without an object)
1. To be wont or accustomed; to be in the habit or practice;
as, he used to ride daily; -- now disused in the present
tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between
''use to,'' and ''used to.''
They use to place him that shall be their captain on
a stone. --Spenser.
Fears use to be represented in an imaginary.
--Bacon.
Thus we use to say, it is the room that smokes, when
indeed it is the fire in the room. --South.
Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it
without the camp. --Ex. xxxiii.
7 (Rev. Ver.)
2. To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell;
-- sometimes followed by of. [Obs.] ''Where never foot did
use.'' --Spenser.
He useth every day to a merchant's house. --B.
Jonson.
Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use
Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks.
--Milton.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Use \Use\, noun [OE. us use, usage, L. usus, from uti, p. p. usus,
to use. See {Use}, verb (used with an object)]
1. The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one's
service; the state of being so employed or applied;
application; employment; conversion to some purpose; as,
the use of a pen in writing; his machines are in general
use.
Books can never teach the use of books. --Bacon.
This Davy serves you for good uses. --Shak.
When he framed
All things to man's delightful use. --Milton.
2. Occasion or need to employ; necessity; as, to have no
further use for a book. --Shak.
3. Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of
being used; usefulness; utility.
God made two great lights, great for their use
To man. --Milton.
'T is use alone that sanctifies expense. --Pope.
4. Continued or repeated practice; customary employment;
usage; custom; manner; habit.
Let later age that noble use envy. --Spenser.
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world! --Shak.
5. Common occurrence; ordinary experience. [R.]
O C[ae]sar! these things are beyond all use. --Shak.
6. (Eccl.) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any
diocese; as, the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford
use; the York use; the Roman use; etc.
From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but
one use. --Pref. to
Book of Common
Prayer.
7. The premium paid for the possession and employment of
borrowed money; interest; usury. [Obs.]
Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use
and principal, to him. --Jer. Taylor.
8. [In this sense probably a corruption of OF. oes, fr. L.
opus need, business, employment, work. Cf. {Operate}.]
(Law) The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use
imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the
holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is
intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and
limited to A for the use of B.
9. (Forging) A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging,
as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by
hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.
{Contingent use}, or {Springing use} (Law), a use to come
into operation on a future uncertain event.
{In use}.
(a) In employment; in customary practice observance.
(b) In heat; -- said especially of mares. --J. H. Walsh.
{Of no use}, useless; of no advantage.
{Of use}, useful; of advantage; profitable.
{Out of use}, not in employment.
{Resulting use} (Law), a use, which, being limited by the
deed, expires or can not vest, and results or returns to
him who raised it, after such expiration.
{Secondary use}, or {Shifting use}, a use which, though
executed, may change from one to another by circumstances.
--Blackstone.
{Statute of uses} (Eng. Law), the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap.
10, which transfers uses into possession, or which unites
the use and possession.
{To make use of}, {To put to use}, to employ; to derive
service from; to use.
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
204 Moby Thesaurus words for "use":
ablation, absolute interest, abuse, account, act toward,
adaptability, advantage, appliance, applicability, application,
apply, appropriateness, automatism, avail, availability, bad habit,
behalf, behave toward, behoof, benefit, bestow, bleed, bleed white,
bon ton, bring into play, care for, carry on, ceremony,
characteristic, claim, common, conduct, conformity, consuetude,
contend with, contingent interest, control, convenience,
convention, cope with, creature of habit, custom, deal by,
deal with, demand, do, do by, do with, drain, duty, easement,
effectiveness, efficacy, efficiency, employ, employment, end use,
engage in, equitable interest, equity, erosion, established way,
estate, etiquette, exercise, exercising, exert, exertion, exploit,
fall back, familiarize, fashion, fitness, folkway, follow,
force of habit, formality, function, functionality, go in for,
goal, govern, habit, habit pattern, habituate, habitude, handle,
helpfulness, holding, ill-use, immediate purpose, impose,
impose upon, interest, inure, limitation, make use of, manage,
manipulate, manner, manners, mark, milk, misuse, mores, object,
objective, observance, occasion, office, operability, operate,
operation, operational purpose, parley, part, pattern, peculiarity,
percentage, play, play on, ply, point, practicability,
practical utility, practicality, practice, praxis, prescription,
presume upon, profit, profitability, proper thing, prosecute,
purpose, pursue, put forth, put out, put to use, ravages of time,
regulate, relevance, respond to, right, right of entry, ritual,
role, run, second nature, serve, service, serviceability,
settlement, social convention, specialize in, stake,
standard behavior, standard usage, standing custom, stereotype,
stereotyped behavior, steward, strict settlement, stroke, suck dry,
tackle, take, take advantage of, take on, take to, take up, talk,
target, time-honored practice, title, tradition, treat, trick,
trust, ultimate purpose, undertake, usability, usage, use ill,
usefulness, utility, utilizability, utilize, value,
vested interest, wage, way, wear, wear and tear, weathering,
what is done, wield, wont, wonting, work, work at, work on,
work upon, worth
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
USE
An early system on the {IBM 1103} or 1103A.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
(1994-11-11)
|
