use

Less common meanings

5. 5
   SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

   noununcountable

   Usefulness, benefit, or point, usually followed by 'of'.

   There is no use in waiting any longer.

   Of what use is money to the dead?

   UsageUsually in it's no use + -ing or what's the use of: it's no use waiting.

   Similarusefulness, benefit, utility, point, good

   Note

   Older writers could also state it flatly. Milton's two great lights are great for their use to man, and Pope has use alone sanctifying expense. In those lines benefit is asserted, not doubted. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Milton describes two great lights as great for their usefulness to humanity in Paradise Lost, affirmatively asserting their benefit. dev.gutenberg.org
   • Pope affirmatively presents usefulness as sanctifying expenditure. publish.uwo.ca
6. 6
   noununcountable

   The capacity or the right to make use of something, particularly a part of the body, one of the senses, or property owned by someone else.

   Months of physical therapy helped her regain the use of her legs.

   Guests at the hotel have the use of the pool and the tennis courts.

   UsageUsually the use of: regain the use of her legs, have the use of the pool.

   Similaraccess

7. 7
   could do withverbtransitive

   With 'could', to benefit from or be able to employ or stand something.

   You could use a haircut, you know.

   We could all use some good news.

   UsageA soft way to say you want or need something: I could use a break.

8. 8
   SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

   accustomverbtransitive

   To accustom or habituate, now common only in the past participle.

   She is used to working late.

   The new workers got used to the noise of the factory within a week.

   UsageUse be used to + noun or -ing: I'm used to noise or I'm used to working. Compare used to + verb for past habits.

   Similaraccustom, habituate, inure

   Note

   The full transitive verb lingers in older phrasing, such as to use the soldiers to hardships. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The transitive construction use someone to something means accustom someone to something and survives in older phrasing. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   exploitverbtransitive

   To exploit, or employ a person or thing selfishly.

   Don't let him use you; he only calls when he needs money.

   He uses everyone around him.

   Similarexploit, manipulate

10. 10
    verbtransitivewith up

    To expend or consume by employing, often with 'up'.

    They use up the whole budget by March.

    He used the last of the flour on Sunday.

    UsageOften use up, to stress that nothing is left: use up the milk.

    Similarconsume, spend, expend, exhaust, deplete

    Oppositesave, conserve

11. 11
    take drugsverbtransitive

    To take alcohol or drugs, especially illegal or addictive drugs on a regular basis ('I have never used drugs'; 'addicts who use once more').

    I have never used drugs of any kind.

    Teenagers who use alcohol early face more risks.

    Similartake, consume, do

12. 12
    SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

    drug takingnoununcountable

    The act of consuming drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.

    Long-term use of painkillers can cause harm.

    The clinic asks about tobacco use.

    UsageUsually after the substance: drug use, alcohol use, heavy tobacco use.

    Similarconsumption

13. 13
    SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

    nounarchaiccountable or uncountable

    Continued or repeated practice; custom or habit.

    Let later age that noble vse enuie,

    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

    How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / Seem to me all the uses of this world!

    c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”

    Note

    Hamlet's weariness with all the uses of this world concerns the world's customary ways, not its functions. Spenser's noble use is likewise a noble practice, and a translation of Sarpi speaks of the use of human affairs. Modern readers easily take the plural as purposes. In archaic texts, read it as habit or custom. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Hamlet expresses weariness with “all the uses of this world.” shakespeare.mit.edu
    • “Uses” in Hamlet's speech means customary practices. en.wiktionary.org
    • Spenser uses “noble use” to mean a noble practice in The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto I, stanza 13. gutenberg.org
    • An English translation of Sarpi contains the phrase “use of human affairs,” with modernized spelling. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    behave towardverbdatedtransitive

    To behave toward or treat someone or something.

    They use their servants kindly in that house.

    Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version

    Similartreat

    Note

    Treatment is the meaning here, usually with an adverb that judges it: gently used, cruelly, despitefully use you. Shakespeare and the 1611 Bible both lean on that adverb. In a modern sentence, use someone will be heard as to exploit. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Use has the historical meaning ‘treat’, illustrated with an evaluative adverb. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shakespeare uses gently used in the sense ‘treated gently’; Edward speaks the words in Henry VI, Part 3, 2.6. folger.edu
    • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
    • Despitefully use you occurs in the King James Bible, in Jesus’s speech at Luke 6:28. en.wikisource.org
15. 15
    SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

    O Caesar! these things are beyond all use.

    1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”

    Note

    A line from Julius Caesar carries this sense: O Caesar! these things are beyond all use. The speaker means beyond anything in ordinary experience, not beyond usefulness. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The quoted words occur in Julius Caesar, spoken by Calpurnia. folger.edu
    • Use in this quotation means ordinary experience. en.wiktionary.org
16. 16
    verbobsoletereflexive

    With a reflexive pronoun, to behave, act, or comport oneself.

    Note

    Conduct is described here as handling oneself. In Cavendish's account, the Earl of Northumberland prays that his son may use thyself more wisely, meaning behave more wisely. The construction is reflexive and obsolete, and it mirrors the "treat" meaning, with oneself as the person treated. Modern English keeps the same reflexive shape with behave instead. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • George Cavendish reports the Earl of Northumberland addressing his son, Lord Percy; the prayer is the earl's. gutenberg.org
    • The wording use thyself more wisely occurs in Cavendish's account. en.wiktionary.org
    • Use thyself here is reflexive and means behave. en.wiktionary.org
    • Use also has the related meaning treat or behave toward someone. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    SayYOOSUS/jus/UK/juːs/

    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    Interest on lent money; a premium paid for borrowing something, or usury.

    Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.

    1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living.

    Note

    Lenders once meant by use the price paid for having someone else's money, and Jeremy Taylor pairs use and principal as a lender would. Beatrice's line in Much Ado plays on it: she repaid Benedick's heart with interest, a double heart for a single one. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Use historically meant interest paid for borrowing money. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jeremy Taylor pairs use and principal in a metaphor about indebtedness. tianmu.org
    • Beatrice makes the borrowing-and-interest pun about Benedick's heart in Much Ado about Nothing. gutenberg.org
18. 18
    noun

    In Christianity, a particular form of a rite adopted in a given context, often a diocese.
19. 19
    noun

    In forging, a slab of iron welded to the side of a forging such as a shaft near its end, then drawn down by hammering to lengthen it.