used to
Formsused to
- 1Used before a verb to say that something happened habitually or repeatedly in the past, though it may no longer happen.
My grandfather used to keep bees in the field behind the barn.
She didn't use to drink coffee, but now she can't start the day without it.
Note
This form exists only in the past, the old past tense of use in its habit sense, so there is no has used to and no using to. In questions and negatives the -d usually drops: did you use to, she didn't use to. It makes no promise about the present either: someone who used to like a band long ago may be surprised to find they still do.
- 2Accustomed to something, and so able to accept or put up with it.
After ten years in Alaska, she's used to long, dark winters.
You'll get used to the commute once you find a good podcast.
Similaraccustomed, familiar, inured
Oppositeunaccustomed, unused
Note
A noun or an -ing form follows, never a bare verb: used to the cold, used to cleaning up other people's mess. The phrase usually sits after be, get, become or grow, and that is the quickest test against the past habit: she is used to getting up early, but she used to get up early. Here used began as a past participle of an old verb use, to be in the habit of.
Practice
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Origins
From used, the past participle of use in its archaic sense “to be in the habit of,” + to.
From used, the past tense of use in its archaic sense “to be in the habit of,” + to, the infinitive marker.