Definition of used

"used" in the verb sense

1. use, utilize, utilise, apply, employ

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"

2. use, habituate

take or consume (regularly or habitually

"She uses drugs rarely"

3. use, expend

use up, consume fully

"The legislature expended its time on school questions"

4. 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"

5. practice, apply, 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"

6. use

habitually do something or be in a certan state or place (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"

"she used to be his best friend and now they are enemies"

"used" in the adjective sense

1. used

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

2. exploited, ill-used, put-upon, used, victimized, victimised

of persons) taken advantage of

"after going out of his way to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but used"

3. secondhand, used

previously used or owned by another

"bought a secondhand (or used) car"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.


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Quotations for used

Great is song used to great ends. [ Alfred Tennyson ]

Moderation should be used in joking. [ Cicero ]

The future ain't what it used to be. [ Yogi Berra ]

Riches, rightly used, breed delight. [ Plautus ]

He used to raise a storm in a teapot. [ Cicero ]

'Tis nothing when you are used to it. [ Swift ]

Time wasted is existence; used, is life. [ Young ]

Where men are kindly used they will resort. [ Proverb ]

When he spoke, what tender words he used!
So softly, that like flakes of feathered snow.
They melted as they fell. [ Dryden ]

Wealth in the gross is death, but life diffused;
As poison heals, in just proportion used;
In heaps, like ambergrise, a stink it lies,
But well dispersed, is incense to the skies. [ Pope ]

A child's birds, and a boy's wife are well used. [ Proverb ]

A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. [ Johnson ]

Riches well got and well used are a great blessing. [ Proverb ]

An old cart well used may last out a new one abused. [ Proverb ]

Let fate do her worst; there are moments of joy,
Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy;
Which come in the nighttime of sorrow and care,
And bring back the features that joy used to wear. [ Moore ]

Art is the gift of God, and must be used unto His glory [ Longfellow ]

Power acquired by guilt was never used for a good purpose. [ Tacitus ]

Books are the best things, well used; abused, among the worst. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

The blackest of fluid is used as an agent to enlighten the world. [ Douglas Jerrold ]

Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned. [ Oliver Wendell Holmes ]

When the lion's skin cannot prevail, a little of the fox's must be used. [ Lysander ]

The fame of great men ought always to be estimated by the means used to acquire it. [ La Rochefoucauld ]

They used to think they were doing God a favor to print His name in capital letters. [ Richter ]

The fir-trees dark and high; I used to think their slender tops were close against the sky. [ Hood ]

Laurie got offended that I used the word puke. But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like. [ Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts ]

Words are as they are taken, and things are as they are used. There are even cursed blessings. [ Bishop Hall ]

The good-finder (if such a barbaric sounding word may be used), is thankful for whatever comes. [ Ossian Lang ]

Old friends are best. King James used to call for his old shoes. They were easiest for his feet. [ John Selden ]

Labour is exercise continued to fatigue; exercise is labour used only while it produces pleasure. [ Johnson ]

Even the best things ill used become evils; and, contrarily, the worst things used well prove good. [ Bishop Hall ]

The history of literature abounds with examples of words used almost without meaning by whole classes of writers. [ William Mathews ]

The hair is the finest ornament women have. Of old, virgins used to wear it loose, except when they were in mourning. [ Luther ]

Named or Mentioned? In such expressions as, I have never named the subject to him, named is improperly used for mentioned. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, who used to say. Take care of the pence; for the pounds will take care of themselves. [ Lord Chesterfield ]

The use we make of our fortune determines its sufficiency. A little is enough if used wisely, and too much if expended foolishly. [ Bovee ]

Nor or Or? These conjunctions are often confused. Example: I can neither read or write. In this sentence or is incorrectly used for nor. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

The conversation of women in society resembles the straw used in packing china: it is nothing, yet, without it, everything would be broken. [ Mme. de Salm ]

New or Novel? New and novel are sometimes used indiscriminately. New is opposed to old, novel to known; as, a new house, a novel invention. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Party or Person? Party, a collective noun, meaning a number of persons is often incorrectly used for person; as, He was a very agreeable party. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

In ancient days the Pythagoreans were used to change names with each other, - fancying that each would share the virtues they admired in the other. [ Thoreau ]

He used words as mere steppingstones, upon which, with a free and youthful bound, his spirit crosses and recrosses the bright and rushing stream of thought. [ Longfellow ]

In old times men used their powers of painting to show the objects of faith; in later times they used the objects of faith to show their powers of painting. [ John Ruskin ]

We used to laugh at Grandpa when he'd head off and go fishing. But we wouldn't be laughing that evening when he'd come back with some whore he picked up in town. [ Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts ]

In old times men used their powers of painting to show the objects of faith; in later times they used the objects of faith that they might show their powers of painting. [ Ruskin ]

It's a long stretch between that first birthday speech and this one. That was my cradle-song; and this is my swan-song, I suppose. I am used to swan-songs; I have sung them several times. [ Mark Twain, Seventieth Birthday speech ]

As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them. [ Beecher ]

The celebrated Boerhaave, who had many enemies, used to say that he never thought it necessary to repeat their calumnies. They are sparks, said he, which, if you do not blow them, will go out of themselves. [ Disraeli ]

I should have been a French atheist were it not for the recollection of the time when my departed mother used to take my little hand in hers, and make me say, on my bended knees, Our Father who art in heaven! [ John Randolph ]

Like everything else in nature, music is a becoming, and it becomes its full self when its sounds and laws are used by intelligent man for the production of harmony, and so made the vehicle of emotion and thought. [ Theodore T. Munger ]

Persuasion, Sect, or Denomination? Persuasion, the definition of which should be plain to every one who speaks English, is often ludicrously used in the sense of sect or denomination; as, He is of the Methodist persuasion. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Genius is that power of man which by its deeds and actions gives laws and rules; and it does not, as used to be thought, manifest itself only by over-stepping existing laws, breaking established rules, and declaring itself above all restraint. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

Noted or Notorious? As adjectives, these terms are sometimes misused; as, He is a noted criminal. The better word here would be notorious, the meaning of which is restricted to that which is bad; while noted may be used in either a good or a bad sense. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Much debating goes on about the good that has been done and the harm by the free circulation of the Bible. To me this is clear: it will do harm, as it has done, if used dogmatically and fancifully; and do good, as it has done, if used didactically and feelingly. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used, and contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. [ William Shakespeare ]

Fetch a spray from the wood and place it on your mantel-shelf, and your household ornaments will seem plebeian beside its nobler fashion and bearing. It will wave superior there, as if used to a more refined and polished circle. It has a salute and response to all your enthusiasm and heroism. [ Thoreau ]

Logic invents as many fallacies as it detects; it is a good weapon, but as liable to be used in a bad as in a good cause. Many of its conclusions, more ingenious than sound, are like the recommendations of a people to keep full bottles, because a good many have been found dead with empty ones by them. [ Bovee ]

Partake or Eat? Partake, meaning to take a part of in common with others, to participate, is often affectedly used as a synonym of eat. It is correct to say that two or more persons partake of dinner, as they may partake of anything else. But, for the individual who eats alone, to say he partook of refreshments is an egregious blunder. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Patron or Customer? These nouns are generally used indiscriminately. A patron is a virtual benefactor; one who countenances, aids, or supports. A customer is a purchaser, or buyer, who expects in return for his money full value received. Hence it is erroneous for a merchant to say, He is a patron of mine, when he means simply a customer. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Occur or Transpire? The misuse of these words is very common. Occur means simply to take place, to happen; transpire to leak out, to come to light. Hence, it is incorrect to say, The annual school exhibition transpired last week. The proper word here is occurred. But transpire is correctly used in such a sentence as, The proceedings of the caucus have not yet transpired. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

In former days various superstitious rites were used to exorcise evil spirits, but in our times the same object is attained, and beyond comparison more effectually, by the press; before this talisman, ghosts, vampires, witches, and all their kindred tribes are driven from the land, never to return again; the touch of holy water is not so intolerable to them as the smell of printing ink. [ J. Bentham ]

It is like the Greek fire used in ancient warfare, which burnt unquenched beneath the water; or like the weeds which, when you have extirpated them in one place, are sprouting forth vigorously in another spot, at the distance of many hundred yards; or, to use the metaphor of St. James, it is like the wheel which catches fire as it goes, and burns with fiercer conflagration as its own speed increases. [ F. W. Robertson ]

Mr. Johnson had never, by his own account, been a close student, and used to advise young people never to be without a book in their pocket, to be read at bye-times, when they had nothing else to do. It has been by that means, said he to a boy at our house one day, that all my knowledge has been gained, except what I have picked up by running about the world with my wits ready to observe, and my tongue ready to talk. [ Mrs. Piozzi ]

Paraphernalia, Trappings or Regalia? We often hear paraphernalia used in the sense of trappings or regalia; as, The Grand Marshal was conspicuous in his gorgeous paraphernalia The word is derived from the Greek, and is strictly a law term, meaning whatever the wife brings with her at marriage, in addition to her dower, such as her dresses and her jewels. Hence the evident absurdity of the use of paraphernalia in the sentence cited. [ Pure English, Hackett And Girvin, 1884 ]

Columbus died in utter ignorance of the true nature of his discovery. He supposed he had found India, but never knew how strangely God had used him. So God piloted the fleet. The great discoverer, with all his heroic virtues, did not know whither he went. He sailed for the back door of Asia, and landed at the front door of America, and knew it not. He never settled the continent. Thus far and no farther, said the Lord. His providence was over all. [ David James Burrell ]

His tongue, like the tail of Samson's foxes, carries firebrands, and is enough to set the whole field of the world on a flame. Himself begins table-talk of his neighbor at another's board, to whom he bears the first news, and adjures him to conceal the reporter; whose choleric answer he returns to his first host, enlarged with a second edition; so as it used to be done in the fight of unwilling mastiffs, he claps each on the side apart, and provokes them to an eager conflict. [ Bishop Hall ]

The names of great painters are like passing-bells: in the name of Velasquez you hear sounded the fall of Spain; in the name of Titian, that of Venice; in the name of Leonardo, that of Milan; in the name of Raphael, that of Rome. And there is profound justice in this, for in proportion to the nobleness of the power is the guilt of its use for purposes vain or vile; and hitherto the greater the art, the more surely has it been used, and used solely, for the decoration of pride or the provoking of sensuality. [ Ruskin ]

No woman is a genius: women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. They represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals. There are only two kinds of women, the plain and the colored. The plain women are very useful. If you want to gain a reputation for respectability you have merely to take them down to supper. The other women are very charming. They commit one mistake, however. They paint in order to try to look young. Our grandmothers painted in order to try to talk brilliantly. Rouge and esprit used to go together. That has all gone out now. As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter she is perfectly satisfied. [ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey ]

used in Scrabble®

The word used is playable in Scrabble®, no blanks required.

Scrabble® Letter Score: 5

Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays In The Letters used:

USED
(21)
DUES
(21)
SUED
(21)
 

All Scrabble® Plays For The Word used

USED
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The 120 Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays For Words Using The Letters In used

USED
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DUES
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SUED
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USED
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DUES
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used in Words With Friends™

The word used is playable in Words With Friends™, no blanks required.

Words With Friends™ Letter Score: 6

Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays In The Letters used:

USED
(30)
USED
(30)
DUES
(30)
SUED
(30)
 

All Words With Friends™ Plays For The Word used

USED
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USED
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USED
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The 132 Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays Using The Letters In used

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Word Growth involving used

Shorter words in used

us use

Longer words containing used

accused counteraccused

accused reaccused

accused unaccused

boused

bused abused abusedly

bused abused disabused

bused abused nonabused

bused abused unabused

bused debused

bused enbused

callused

caucused

caused uncaused

censused

chorused

disused

doused

enthused

excused unexcused

focused autofocused

focused defocused

focused electrofocused

focused misfocused

focused overfocused

focused refocused prefocused

focused underfocused

focused unfocused

fused circumfused

fused confused confusedly

fused confused confusedness

fused confused nonconfused

fused confused unconfused

fused defused undefused

fused diffused diffusedly

fused diffused diffusedness

fused diffused interdiffused

fused diffused nondiffused

fused diffused overdiffused

fused diffused rediffused

fused diffused thermodiffused

fused diffused undiffused

fused effused

fused electrofused

fused infused reinfused

fused infused uninfused

fused interfused

fused nonfused

fused perfused reperfused

fused perfused unperfused

fused refused

fused suffused

fused transfused

fused unfused

housed choused

housed housedog housedogs

housed housedress housedresses

housed penthoused

housed rehoused warehoused

housed roughhoused

loused bloused

loused calloused

loused deloused

misused

moused

mused amused amusedly

mused amused unamused

mused bemused bemusedly

nonplused

overused

paused

perused reperused

recused

rendezvoused

reused

roused aroused caroused

roused aroused nonaroused

roused aroused overaroused

roused aroused rearoused

roused aroused unaroused

roused groused

roused uproused

spoused espoused

underused

unused

wellused