used Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
    employ; apply; use; utilize; utilise.
    • use your head!
    • we only use Spanish at home
    • I can't use 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
  2. verb take or consume (regularly or habitually)
    habituate; use.
    • She uses drugs rarely
  3. verb use up, consume fully
    use; expend.
    • The legislature expended its time on school questions
  4. verb seek or achieve an end by using to one's advantage
    use.
    • She uses her influential friends to get jobs
    • The president's wife used her good connections
  5. verb avail oneself to
    apply; use; practice.
    • apply a principle
    • practice a religion
    • use care when going down the stairs
    • use your common sense
    • practice non-violent resistance
  6. verb habitually do something (use only in the past tense)
    use.
    • 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
  7. adjective 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
  8. adjective satellite of persons; taken advantage of
    exploited; put-upon; victimised; victimized; ill-used.
    • after going out of his way to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but used
  9. adjective satellite previously used or owned by another
    secondhand.
    • bought a secondhand (or used) car

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