use

Etymology

Noun 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, and Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt. Verb 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).

noun

1. The act of using.
   The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
   In his submission to the UN, [Christof] 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. 2013-06-07, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 6
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. 2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, page 93
3. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.
   What's the use of a law that nobody follows?
   'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense. 1731, Alexander Pope, “Epistle IV: Of the Use of Riches”, in Moral Essays; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 173
4. 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. 2013-07-26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26
5. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.
   I have no further use for these textbooks.
6. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
7. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
8. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
9. (Christianity) 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
10. (forging) 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. To utilize or employ.
   1. (transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.
      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. 2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3
   2. (transitive, often with up) To expend; to consume by employing.
      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 exploit.
      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. 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist
   4. (transitive) To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.
      He uses cocaine. I have never used drugs.
   5. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.
      Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.
   6. (transitive, with auxiliary "could") To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.
      I could use a drink. My car could use a new coat of paint.
   7. (transitive, with gender pronouns as object) To suggest or request that other people employ a specific set of gender pronouns when referring to the subject.
      I use they/them pronouns.
2. 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 (still common)
   to use the soldiers to hardships and danger (now rare)
   1. (reflexive, obsolete, with "to") To accustom oneself.
      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 […] 1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, London: T. Ostell, published 1806, Sixth Dialogue, p. 466
      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 […]
      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. 1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Book 3, Chapter 24
3. (intransitive, archaic or literary except in past tense) To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)
   For in the Rites of funeration they did use to anoint the dead body, with Aromatick Spices and Oyntments, before they buried them. 1693, Sir Norman Knatchbull, Annotations upon some difficult texts in all the books of the New Testament
   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. 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, section II
   I used to get things done.
4. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
   to use an animal cruelly
   "Oh, how dare you, or any one, to speak of her so! She used me as if I had been her dearest child. She was more kind to me than a mother. There is no one in the world like her!" Mary cried. 1884, Margaret Oliphant, Old Lady Mary
5. (reflexive, obsolete) 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.