Hypertext Webster Gateway: "use"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Use \Use\, n. [OE. us use, usage, L. usus, from uti, p. p. usus,
to use. See {Use}, v. t.]
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}, 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}, 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 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Use \Use\, v. t. [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 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Use \Use\, v. i.
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 WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

use
n 1: the act of using; "the steps were worn from years of use"
[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}]
v 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); "She uses drugs rarely"
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"


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