| use | | |
| n. (act) | 1. employment, exercise, usage, use, utilisation, utilization | the act of using.; "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers" |
| ~ activity | any specific behavior.; "they avoided all recreational activity" |
| ~ practice | the exercise of a profession.; "the practice of the law"; "I took over his practice when he retired" |
| ~ play | utilization or exercise.; "the play of the imagination" |
| ~ misuse, abuse | improper or excessive use.; "alcohol abuse"; "the abuse of public funds" |
| ~ exploitation, development | the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful.; "the development of Alaskan resources"; "the exploitation of copper deposits" |
| ~ recycling | the act of processing used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products. |
| ~ application, practical application | the act of bringing something to bear; using it for a particular purpose.; "he advocated the application of statistics to the problem"; "a novel application of electronics to medical diagnosis" |
| n. (attribute) | 2. function, purpose, role, use | what something is used for.; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" |
| ~ usefulness, utility | the quality of being of practical use. |
| ~ raison d'etre | the purpose that justifies a thing's existence. |
| n. (attribute) | 3. use | a particular service.; "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses" |
| ~ usefulness, utility | the quality of being of practical use. |
| n. (process) | 4. consumption, economic consumption, usance, use, use of goods and services | (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing.; "the consumption of energy has increased steadily" |
| ~ economic science, economics, political economy | the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management. |
| ~ conspicuous consumption | buying expensive services and products in order to flaunt your wealth. |
| ~ demand | the ability and desire to purchase goods and services.; "the automobile reduced the demand for buggywhips"; "the demand exceeded the supply" |
| n. (act) | 5. habit, use | (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition.; "owls have nocturnal habits"; "she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use had hardened him to it" |
| ~ custom, usage, usance | accepted or habitual practice. |
| ~ ritual | stereotyped behavior. |
| ~ second nature | acquired behavior that is practiced so long it seems innate. |
| ~ psychological science, psychology | the science of mental life. |
| ~ cleanliness | the habit of keeping free of superficial imperfections. |
| n. (act) | 6. manipulation, use | exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage.; "his manipulation of his friends was scandalous" |
| ~ influence | causing something without any direct or apparent effort. |
| ~ mind game | deliberate actions of calculated psychological manipulation intended to intimidate or confuse (usually for competitive advantage).; "football players try to play mind games with the opposition"; "the jeweler's mind game is to convince lovers that the size of a gemstone reflects the depth of their feelings" |
| n. (attribute) | 7. enjoyment, use | (law) the exercise of the legal right to enjoy the benefits of owning property.; "we were given the use of his boat" |
| ~ legal right | a right based in law. |
| ~ fair use | the conditions under which you can use material that is copyrighted by someone else without paying royalties. |
| ~ fruition | enjoyment derived from use or possession. |
| ~ law, jurisprudence | the collection of rules imposed by authority.; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order" |
| v. (consumption) | 8. apply, employ, use, utilise, utilize | put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose.; "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" |
| ~ dedicate, devote, commit, consecrate, give | give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause.; "She committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church" |
| ~ play | employ in a game or in a specific position.; "They played him on first base" |
| ~ play | use or move.; "I had to play my queen" |
| ~ pull out all the stops | use all resources available.; "The organizers pulled out all the stops for the centennial meeting" |
| ~ put, assign | attribute or give.; "She put too much emphasis on her the last statement"; "He put all his efforts into this job"; "The teacher put an interesting twist to the interpretation of the story" |
| ~ ply | use diligently.; "ply your wits!" |
| ~ address | address or apply oneself to something, direct one's efforts towards something, such as a question. |
| ~ waste | use inefficiently or inappropriately.; "waste heat"; "waste a joke on an unappreciative audience" |
| ~ misapply, misuse | apply to a wrong thing or person; apply badly or incorrectly.; "The words are misapplied in this context"; "You are misapplying the name of this religious group" |
| ~ avail | use to one's advantage.; "He availed himself of the available resources" |
| ~ overuse, overdrive | make use of too often or too extensively. |
| ~ cannibalise, cannibalize | use parts of something to repair something else. |
| ~ reprocess, reuse, recycle | use again after processing.; "We must recycle the cardboard boxes" |
| ~ exploit, work | use or manipulate to one's advantage.; "He exploit the new taxation system"; "She knows how to work the system"; "he works his parents for sympathy" |
| ~ exploit, tap | draw from; make good use of.; "we must exploit the resources we are given wisely" |
| ~ strain, extend | use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity.; "He really extended himself when he climbed Kilimanjaro"; "Don't strain your mind too much" |
| ~ exercise, exert | put to use.; "exert one's power or influence" |
| ~ enjoy | have benefit from.; "enjoy privileges" |
| ~ take | travel or go by means of a certain kind of transportation, or a certain route.; "He takes the bus to work"; "She takes Route 1 to Newark" |
| ~ share | use jointly or in common. |
| ~ put to work, work | cause to work.; "he is working his servants hard" |
| ~ implement | apply in a manner consistent with its purpose or design.; "implement a procedure" |
| ~ practice, use, apply | avail oneself to.; "apply a principle"; "practice a religion"; "use care when going down the stairs"; "use your common sense"; "practice non-violent resistance" |
| ~ resort, recur, fall back | have recourse to.; "The government resorted to rationing meat" |
| ~ go for, apply, hold | be pertinent or relevant or applicable.; "The same laws apply to you!"; "This theory holds for all irrational numbers"; "The same rules go for everyone" |
| v. (consumption) | 9. habituate, use | take or consume (regularly or habitually).; "She uses drugs rarely" |
| ~ ingest, consume, have, take in, take | serve oneself to, or consume regularly.; "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee" |
| ~ tope, drink | drink excessive amounts of alcohol; be an alcoholic.; "The husband drinks and beats his wife" |
| ~ board | lodge and take meals (at). |
| v. (consumption) | 10. expend, use | use up, consume fully.; "The legislature expended its time on school questions" |
| ~ abuse, misuse, pervert | change the inherent purpose or function of something.; "Don't abuse the system"; "The director of the factory misused the funds intended for the health care of his workers" |
| ~ abuse | use wrongly or improperly or excessively.; "Her husband often abuses alcohol"; "while she was pregnant, she abused drugs" |
| ~ deplete, use up, wipe out, eat up, exhaust, run through, consume, eat | use up (resources or materials).; "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week" |
| ~ spare | use frugally or carefully. |
| ~ take, use up, occupy | require (time or space).; "It took three hours to get to work this morning"; "This event occupied a very short time" |
| ~ squander, waste, blow | spend thoughtlessly; throw away.; "He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends"; "You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree" |
| v. (social) | 11. use | seek or achieve an end by using to one's advantage.; "She uses her influential friends to get jobs"; "The president's wife used her good connections" |
| ~ exploit, work | use or manipulate to one's advantage.; "He exploit the new taxation system"; "She knows how to work the system"; "he works his parents for sympathy" |
| ~ take advantage, trespass | make excessive use of.; "You are taking advantage of my good will!"; "She is trespassing upon my privacy" |
| v. (social) | 12. apply, practice, use | avail oneself to.; "apply a principle"; "practice a religion"; "use care when going down the stairs"; "use your common sense"; "practice non-violent resistance" |
| ~ apply, employ, use, utilise, utilize | put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose.; "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" |
| ~ follow | adhere to or practice.; "These people still follow the laws of their ancient religion" |
| v. (social) | 13. use | habitually do something (use only in the past tense).; "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" |
| ~ act, move | perform an action, or work out or perform (an action).; "think before you act"; "We must move quickly"; "The governor should act on the new energy bill"; "The nanny acted quickly by grabbing the toddler and covering him with a wet towel" |
| usage | | |
| n. (act) | 1. custom, usage, usance | accepted or habitual practice. |
| ~ practice, pattern | a customary way of operation or behavior.; "it is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary pattern" |
| ~ americanism | a custom that is peculiar to the United States or its citizens. |
| ~ anglicism, britishism | a custom that is peculiar to England or its citizens. |
| ~ consuetude | a custom or usage that has acquired the force of law. |
| ~ couvade | a custom among some peoples whereby the husband of a pregnant wife is put to bed at the time of bearing the child. |
| ~ germanism | a custom that is peculiar to Germany or its citizens. |
| ~ habit, use | (psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition.; "owls have nocturnal habits"; "she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use had hardened him to it" |
| ~ hijab | the custom in some Islamic societies of women dressing modestly outside the home.; "she observes the hijab and does not wear tight clothing" |
| ~ survival | something that survives. |
| ~ ritual, rite | any customary observance or practice. |
| n. (communication) | 2. usage | the customary manner in which a language (or a form of a language) is spoken or written.; "English usage"; "a usage borrowed from French" |
| ~ language, linguistic communication | a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols.; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written" |
| utility | | |
| n. (group) | 1. public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation, utility | a company that performs a public service; subject to government regulation. |
| ~ service | a company or agency that performs a public service; subject to government regulation. |
| ~ phone company, phone service, telco, telephone company, telephone service | a public utility that provides telephone service. |
| ~ electric company, light company, power company, power service | a public utility that provides electricity. |
| ~ water company, waterworks | a public utility that provides water. |
| ~ gas company, gas service | a public utility that provides gas. |
| ~ bus company, bus service | a public utility providing local transportation. |
| n. (attribute) | 2. usefulness, utility | the quality of being of practical use. |
| ~ quality | an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone.; "the quality of mercy is not strained" |
| ~ detergence, detergency | detergent quality; the quality of having cleansing power. |
| ~ function, purpose, use, role | what something is used for.; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" |
| ~ helpfulness | the property of providing useful assistance. |
| ~ use | a particular service.; "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses" |
| ~ serviceability, serviceableness, usability, usableness, useableness | the quality of being able to provide good service. |
| ~ instrumentality | the quality of being instrumental for some purpose. |
| ~ practicality | concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilities. |
| ~ practicability, practicableness | the quality of being usable. |
| n. (act) | 3. utility | the service (electric power or water or transportation) provided by a public utility.; "the cost of utilities never decreases"; "all the utilities were lost after the hurricane" |
| ~ service | work done by one person or group that benefits another.; "budget separately for goods and services" |
| n. (quantity) | 4. utility | (economics) a measure that is to be maximized in any situation involving choice. |
| ~ economic science, economics, political economy | the branch of social science that deals with the production and distribution and consumption of goods and services and their management. |
| ~ system of measurement, metric | a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic. |
| ~ marginal utility | (economics) the amount that utility increases with an increase of one unit of an economic good or service. |
| n. (communication) | 5. service program, utility, utility program | (computer science) a program designed for general support of the processes of a computer.; "a computer system provides utility programs to perform the tasks needed by most users" |
| ~ computer science, computing | the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures. |
| ~ computer program, computer programme, programme, program | (computer science) a sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute.; "the program required several hundred lines of code" |
| ~ device driver, driver | (computer science) a program that determines how a computer will communicate with a peripheral device. |
| ~ diagnostic program | a program that recognizes and explains faults in the equipment or mistakes in a computer program. |
| ~ input program | a utility program that organizes the input to a computer. |
| ~ output program | a utility program that organizes the output of a computer. |
| ~ sort program, sorting program | a utility program that sorts data items. |
| ~ trace program | a utility program that exhibits the sequence and results of executing the instructions in another program. |
| ~ service routine, utility routine | a routine that can be used as needed. |
| n. (artifact) | 6. utility | a facility composed of one or more pieces of equipment connected to or part of a structure and designed to provide a service such as heat or electricity or water or sewage disposal.; "the price of the house included all utilities" |
| ~ electrical plant, electrical system | utility that provides electricity. |
| ~ facility, installation | a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry.; "the assembly plant is an enormous facility" |
| ~ heating plant, heating system, heating, heat | utility to warm a building.; "the heating system wasn't working"; "they have radiant heating" |
| ~ plumbing, plumbing system | utility consisting of the pipes and fixtures for the distribution of water or gas in a building and for the disposal of sewage. |
| adj. | 7. utility, utility-grade | used of beef; usable but inferior. |
| ~ inferior | of low or inferior quality. |
| adj. | 8. substitute, utility | capable of substituting in any of several positions on a team.; "a utility infielder" |
| ~ secondary | being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate.; "the stone will be hauled to a secondary crusher"; "a secondary source"; "a secondary issue"; "secondary streams" |
| employ | | |
| n. (state) | 1. employ, employment | the state of being employed or having a job.; "they are looking for employment"; "he was in the employ of the city" |
| ~ state | the way something is with respect to its main attributes.; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" |
| v. (social) | 2. employ, engage, hire | engage or hire for work.; "They hired two new secretaries in the department"; "How many people has she employed?" |
| ~ featherbed | hire more workers than are necessary. |
| ~ fill | appoint someone to (a position or a job). |
| ~ engage | ask to represent; of legal counsel.; "I'm retaining a lawyer" |
| ~ ship | hire for work on a ship. |
| ~ sign on, sign up, contract, sign | engage by written agreement.; "They signed two new pitchers for the next season" |
| ~ rat | employ scabs or strike breakers in. |
| ~ farm out, subcontract, job | arranged for contracted work to be done by others. |
| use | | |
| utilize | | |
| v. (change) | 1. utilize | convert (from an investment trust to a unit trust). |
| ~ exchange, convert, commute, change | exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category.; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?"; "He changed his name"; "convert centimeters into inches"; "convert holdings into shares" |
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