In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and theiruse for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.
1667,John Milton, “Book VII”, inParadise Lost.[…], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
God made two great lights, great for theiruse / To man.
1731,Alexander Pope, “Epistle IV: Of the Use of Riches”, inMoral Essays; republished inThe Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company,1902,page173:
'Tisuse alone that sanctifies expense.
Afunction; a purpose for which something may be employed.
Theuse of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.
DON PEDRO. Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signior Benedick. BEATRICE. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave himuse for it, a double heart for a single one: [...]
1651,Jer[emy] Taylor,The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living.[…], 2nd edition, London:[…] Francis Ashe[…],→OCLC:
Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute,use and principal, to him.
(archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
For the next yeere 1527. the negotiations of a Councell were buried in silence; according to thevse of humane affaires, that in the time of warre, prouision for lawes hath no place.
(obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but oneuse.
(forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.
Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…] The wild species weuse are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygenusing solar energy.
(transitive, with gender pronouns as object) Tosuggest orrequest that other people employ a specific set ofgenderpronouns when referring to the subject.
Iuse they/them pronouns. ―I suggest or request that others use the pronouns they/them when referring to me.
2023, Brianna I. Wiens, Michelle MacArthur, Shana MacDonald, Milena Radzikowska,Stories of Feminist Protest and Resistance: Digital Performative Assemblies, Rowman & Littlefield,→ISBN, page92:
The "Older" [butch] group is maintained by three administrators who alluse she/her pronouns and two moderators, one of whomuses they'them pronouns while the otheruses she/her.
Toaccustom; tohabituate.(Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.)
soldiers who areused to hardships and danger(still common)
touse the soldiers to hardships and danger(now rare)
1667,John Milton, “Book IV”, inParadise Lost.[…], London:[…] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
Thou with thy compeers, /Used to the yoke, draw’st his triumphant wheels.
It is not without some difficulty, that a man born in society can form an idea of such savages, and their condition; and unless he hasused himself to abstract thinking, he can hardly represent to himself such a state of simplicity, in which man can have so few desires, and no appetites roving beyond the immediate call of untaught nature[…]
So that reading constantly, and thususing yourself to write, and enjoying besides the Benefit of a good Memory, every thing you heard or read, became your own[…]
1769,John Leland,Discourses on Various Subjects, London: W. Johnston and J. Dodsley, Volume 1, Discourse 16, p. 311,[4]
[…] we must be constant and faithful to our Words and Promises, anduse ourselves to be so even in smaller Matters[…]
Peter Pol, doctor in divinitie used to sit upon his mule, who asMonstrelet reporteth, was wont to ride up and downe the streets ofParis, ever sitting sideling, as womenuse.
If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men / Lov’d, honour’d, fear’d me, thou alone could hate me / Thy Husband, slight me, sell me, forgo me; / How wouldst thouuse me now, blind, and thereby / Deceivable[…]
Cato hasused me Ill: He has refused / His DaughterMarcia to my ardent Vows.
1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Emperor ofLilliput, Attended by Several of the Nobility, Come to See the Author in His Confinement.[…]”, inTravels into Several Remote Nations of the World.[…][Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London:[…]Benj[amin] Motte,[…],→OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput),page43:
This is an exact Inventory of what we found about the Body of theMan-Mountain, whouſed us with great Civility, and due Reſpect to your Majefty's Commiſſion.
“I hope,” said Jones, “you don’t intend to leave me in this condition.” “Indeed but I shall,” said the other. “Then,” said Jones, “you haveused me rascally, and I will not pay you a farthing.”
1884, Margaret Oliphant,Old Lady Mary:
"Oh, how dare you, or any one, to speak of her so! Sheused me as if I had been her dearest child. She was more kind to me than a mother. There is no one in the world like her!" Mary cried.
1551,Thomas More,Utopia, London: B. Alsop & T. Fawcet, 1639, “Of Bond-men, Sicke persons, Wedlocke, and divers other matters,” page 231,[6]
They live together lovingly: For no Magistrate is either haughty or fearefull. Fathers they be called, and like fathers theyuse themselves.
c.1558,George Cavendish,The Life and Death ofThomas Wolsey, cardinal, edited by Grace H. M. Simpson, London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1901, page 57,[7]
I pray to God that this may be a sufficient admonition unto thee touse thyself more wisely hereafter, for assure thyself that if thou dost not amend thy prodigality, thou wilt be the last Earl of our house.
When meaning "accustom, habituate" or "habitually do (or employ)", the verbuse is pronounced/juːs/ (like the nounuse); these senses and hence this pronunciation are now found chiefly in the past tense or as a past participle (/juːst/), or in the (past) negative formdid notuse (as inI did notuse to like her orthe dragoons did notuse [habituate, become habituated] to the Russian cold). In all other senses, it is pronounced/juːz/ (past tense/participle/juːzd/).
See also the usage notes atused to (anduse to) for more, especially on the use of this sense in interrogatives, negatives, and the past tense.
