1. [n]  exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage; "his manipulation of his friends was scandalous"
2. [n]  a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition; "she had a habit twirling the ends of her hair"; "long use had hardened him to it"
3. [n]  the act of using; "he warned against the use of narcotic drugs"; "skilled in the utilization of computers"
4. [n]  what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?"
5. [n]  a particular service; "he put his knowledge to good use"; "patrons have their uses"
6. [n]  (law) the exercise of the legal right to enjoy the benefits of owning property; "we were given the use of his boat"
7. [n]  (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing; "the consumption of energy has increased steadily"
8. [v]  use up, consume fully; "The legislature expended its time on school questions."
9. [v]  put into service; make work or employ (something) for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose; "use your head!"; "we only use Spanish at home"; "I can't make use of 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"
10. [v]  take or consume (regularly or habitually); "She uses drugs rarely"
11. [v]  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"
12. [v]  avail oneself to; "apply a principle"; "practice a religion"; "use care when going down the stairs"; "use your common sense"; "practice non-violent resistance"
13. [v]  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"

1. \Use\, n. [OE. us use, usage, L. usus, from uti, p. p. usus,
   to use. See {Use}, v. t.]
   1. The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one's
      service; the state of being so employed or applied;
      application; employment; conversion to some purpose; as,
      the use of a pen in writing; his machines are in general
      use.
            Books can never teach the use of books. --Bacon.
            This Davy serves you for good uses.   --Shak.
            When he framed All things to man's delightful use.
                                                  --Milton.
   2. Occasion or need to employ; necessity; as, to have no
      further use for a book. --Shak.
   3. Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of
      being used; usefulness; utility.
            God made two great lights, great for their use To
            man.                                  --Milton.
            'T is use alone that sanctifies expense. --Pope.
   4. Continued or repeated practice; customary employment;
      usage; custom; manner; habit.
            Let later age that noble use envy.    --Spenser.
            How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me
            all the uses of this world!           --Shak.
   5. Common occurrence; ordinary experience. [R.]
            O C[ae]sar! these things are beyond all use. --Shak.
   6. (Eccl.) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any
      diocese; as, the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford
      use; the York use; the Roman use; etc.
            From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but
            one use.                              --Pref. to
                                                  Book of Common
                                                  Prayer.
   7. The premium paid for the possession and employment of
      borrowed money; interest; usury. [Obs.]
            Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use
            and principal, to him.                --Jer. Taylor.
   8. [In this sense probably a corruption of OF. oes, fr. L.
      opus need, business, employment, work. Cf. {Operate}.]
      (Law) The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use
      imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the
      holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is
      intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and
      limited to A for the use of B.
   9. (Forging) A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging,
      as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by
      hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.
   {Contingent}, or {Springing}, {use} (Law), a use to come into
      operation on a future uncertain event.
   {In use}.
      (a) In employment; in customary practice observance.
      (b) In heat; -- said especially of mares. --J. H. Walsh.
   {Of no use}, useless; of no advantage.
   {Of use}, useful; of advantage; profitable.
   {Out of use}, not in employment.
   {Resulting use} (Law), a use, which, being limited by the
      deed, expires or can not vest, and results or returns to
      him who raised it, after such expiration.
   {Secondary}, or {Shifting}, {use}, a use which, though
      executed, may change from one to another by circumstances.
      --Blackstone.
   {Statute of uses} (Eng. Law), the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap.
      10, which transfers uses into possession, or which unites
      the use and possession.
   {To make use of}, {To put to use}, to employ; to derive
      service from; to use.
   

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

3. \Use\, v. i.
   1. To be wont or accustomed; to be in the habit or practice;
      as, he used to ride daily; -- now disused in the present
      tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between
      ``use to,'' and ``used to.''
            They use to place him that shall be their captain on
            a stone.                              --Spenser.
            Fears use to be represented in an imaginary.
                                                  --Bacon.
            Thus we use to say, it is the room that smokes, when
            indeed it is the fire in the room.    --South.
            Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it
            without the camp.                     --Ex. xxxiii.
                                                  7 (Rev. Ver.)
   2. To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell;
      -- sometimes followed by of. [Obs.] ``Where never foot did
      use.'' --Spenser.
            He useth every day to a merchant's house. --B.
                                                  Jonson.
            Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use Of
            shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks.
                                                  --Milton.
   

An early system on the IBM 1103 or 1103A.

[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].