use
/jus/noun, verb
use is spelled U-S-E. The wrong spelling people search most is uise: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 137 of all searches for the word. Use is a noun meaning “The act of using”. The plural of use is uses.
How many letters and syllables are in use?
| Letters | 3: U-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 646 times per million words; the 152nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, uise, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell use?
Use is spelled U-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 138 of the searches for use in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is use?
Use appears 646 times per million words in written English, the 152nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce use?
- UK /juːs/
- US /jus/
- US [jɪu̯s]
As a verb (“To employ; to apply; to utilize”): /juːz/, /juz/, [jɪu̯z].
Use has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-use.wav, En-us-use-noun.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-use2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with use
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with use?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as use from its last stressed vowel (/us/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sue, ues.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of use
- uses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- using participle, present
- used participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does use mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of using.
The use of torture has been condemned by the United Nations.
- 2
The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.
- 3
Usefulness, utility, benefit; purpose, point.
Near-synonyms: meaning, meaningfulness
- 4
A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.
This tool has many uses.
- 5
Occasion or need to employ; necessity.
I have no further use for these textbooks, but we may have use for all these other things later.
- 6
obsoleterareInterest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
- 7
archaicContinued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
- 8
obsoleteCommon occurrence; ordinary experience.
verb
- 1
To employ; to apply; to utilize.
Use this knife to slice the bread.
- 2
To expend; to consume by employing.
I used the money they allotted me.
- 3
To exploit.
You never cared about me; you just used me!
- 4
To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.
He uses cocaine.
- 5
To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.
Richard began experimenting with cocaine last year; now he uses almost every day.
- 6
To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.
I could use a drink.
- 7
To suggest or request that other people employ a specific set of gender pronouns when referring to the subject.
I use they/them pronouns.
- 8
To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.)
soldiers who are used to hardships and danger
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Use in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | usage, emploi, utilisation , utilité , utiliser, se servir (de) |
| German | Benutzung, Anwendung, Gebrauch , Nutzen , Funktion, Zweck |
| Portuguese | uso , utilidade , usar, utilizar , costumar |
| Spanish | uso, usanza, utilización, empleo, usaje (disused) , utilidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does use come from?
Inherited from Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin ūsus (“use, custom, skill, habit”), from past participle stem of ūtor (“use”). Displaced native Middle English note (“use”) (see note) from Old English notu; Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt; as well as Old English fricu and Old English sidu.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).