USING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Using

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/jˈuzɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Use v. t. (past & past part. used; pres. part. using)

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." "Some other means I have which may be used."

To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat; as, to use a beast cruelly. "I will use him well." "How wouldst thou use me now?" "Cato has used me ill."

To practice customarily; to make a practice of; as, to use diligence in business. "Use hospitality one to another."

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." "Thou with thy compeers, Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels."

To use one's self, to behave. (Obs.) "Pray, forgive me, if I have used myself unmannerly."

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.)

Synonyms: Employ. 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." "To study nature will thy time employ: Knowledge and innocence are perfect joy."

Use v. i.

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." "Fears use to be represented in an imaginary." "Thus we use to say, it is the room that smokes, when indeed it is the fire in the room." "Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp."

To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell; sometimes followed by of. (Obs.) "Where never foot did use." "He useth every day to a merchant's house." "Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks."

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Etymology of 'Using'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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