Used

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Launcelot Gobbo, use your legs.       --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Some other means I have which may be used. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat; as, to
        use a beast cruelly. "I will use him well." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              How wouldst thou use me now?          --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Cato has used me ill.                 --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To practice customarily; to make a practice of; as, to use
        diligence in business.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Use hospitality one to another.       --1 Pet. iv.
                                                    9.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I am so used in the fire to blow.     --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Thou with thy compeers,
              Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels.
                                                    --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {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.]
            [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  I would, my son, that thou wouldst use the power
                  Which thy discretion gives thee, to control
                  And manage all.                   --Cowper.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  To study nature will thy time employ:
                  Knowledge and innocence are perfect joy.
                                                    --Dryden.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  used
       adj 1: employed in accomplishing something; "the principle of
              surprise is the most used and misused of all the
              principles of war"- H.H.Arnold & I.C.Eaker [ant: {misused}]
       2: of persons; taken advantage of; "after going out of his way
          to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but
          used" [syn: {exploited}, {ill-used}, {put-upon}, {victimized},
           {victimised}]
       3: previously used or owned by another; "bought a secondhand
          (or used) car" [syn: {secondhand}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  43 Moby Thesaurus words for "used":
     ablated, acquainted with, adapted to, applied, by the board,
     cast-off, consumed, depleted, dissipated, down the drain, employed,
     eroded, exercised, exerted, expended, familiar with, forfeit,
     forfeited, gone, gone to waste, hand-me-down, in use,
     irretrievable, long-lost, lost, lost to, misspent, not new,
     occupied, old, out the window, pawed-over, run to seed, secondhand,
     shrunken, spent, squandered, unnew, used to, used up, wasted, worn,
     worn away