WordWeb Online

1. Put into service; make work for a particular purpose or use as designed
   "use your head!"; "we only use Spanish at home"; "I can't use this tool"; "use the plastic bags to store the food"; "He doesn't know how to use a computer";
   - utilize, utilise [Brit], apply, employ
    
2. Take or consume (regularly or habitually)
   "She uses drugs rarely";
   - habituate
    
3. Spend time doing something so that less or no time is left
   "The legislature used its time on school questions";
   - expend
    
4. 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"
    
5. Make use of; obey or follow
   "use care when going down the stairs"; "use your common sense";
   - practice [N. Amer], apply, practise [Brit, Cdn]
    
6. Habitually do something or be in a certain state or place (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"; "she used to be his best friend and now they are enemies"

1. The act of using
   "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs";
   - usage, utilization, utilisation [Brit], employment, exercise
    
2. What something is used for
   "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?";
   - function, purpose, role
    
3. A particular service
   "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses"
    
4. (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing
   "the use of energy has increased steadily";
   - consumption, economic consumption, usance [archaic], use of goods and services
    
5. (psychology) an automatic pattern of behaviour in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition
   "long use had hardened him to it";
   - habit
    
6. Exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage
   "his use of his friends was scandalous";
   - manipulation
    
7. (law) the exercise of the legal right to enjoy the benefits of owning property
   "we were given the use of his boat";
   - enjoyment

Sounds like: tux, s, use, yews, ewes, yous

Derived forms: using, uses

See also: exhaust, functional, nonfunctional

Type of: act, activity, consume, custom, demand, exploit, have, influence, ingest, legal right, move, take, take in, usage, usance [archaic], usefulness, utility, work

Encyclopedia: Use