use

Fetched 2026-11-02 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Noun

1. The act of using.
   • The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
2. The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.
3. Usefulness, utility, benefit; purpose, point.
   • What's the use of a law that nobody follows?
   • There's no use in spewing a million words about it; whatever will be, will be.
   • These empty boxes will be of use when we move.
4. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.
   • This tool has many uses.
5. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.
   • I have no further use for these textbooks, but we may have use for all these other things later.
6. Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
7. Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
8. Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
9. 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. 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. To employ; to apply; to utilize.
   • Use this knife to slice the bread.
   • We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
   • 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.
   • You never cared about me; you just used me!
   • He uses cocaine.
   • I have never used drugs.
   • Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.
   • I could use a drink.
   • My car could use a new coat of paint.
   • I use they/them pronouns.
2. To employ; to apply; to utilize.
   • Use this knife to slice the bread.
   • We can use this mathematical formula to solve the problem.
3. 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.
4. To exploit.
   • You never cared about me; you just used me!
5. To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.
   • He uses cocaine.
   • I have never used drugs.
6. 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.
7. To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.
   • I could use a drink.
   • My car could use a new coat of paint.
8. To suggest or request that other people employ a specific set of gender pronouns when referring to the subject.
   • I use they/them pronouns.
9. To accustom; to habituate.
   • soldiers who are used to hardships and danger
   • to use the soldiers to hardships and danger
10. To accustom oneself.
11. To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)
    • I used to get things done.
12. To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
    • to use an animal cruelly
13. To behave, act, comport oneself.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.