Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
used [yoozd or for 4, yoost] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for used on Thesaurus.com adjective
- previously used or owned; secondhand: a used car.
- showing wear or being worn out: a thrift shop that accepts used clothing.
- employed for a purpose; utilized: a frequently used dictionary.
Idioms
- used to, accustomed or habituated to: I’m not used to cold weather. They weren’t used to getting up so early.
Origin of used Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at use, -ed2 Related formshalf-used, adjectivewell-used, adjective Related Words for well-used busy, accepted, frequented, sure, well-used Examples from the Web for well-used Contemporary Examples of well-used
So what of the photograph of what the Senate report described as a “well-used waterboard” with buckets around it, at the Salt Pit?
CIA Interrogation Chief: ‘Rectal Feeding,’ Broken Limbs Are News to Me
Kimberly Dozier
December 11, 2014
Historical Examples of well-used
By skilful play and well-used dignity he might contrive to snatch all the credit yet.
Talbot Mundy
Upon one side of the room are shelves holding five or six hundred well-used volumes.
W. Sloane Kennedy
He made the coins jump and jingle in his agile hand, well-used to dealing cards.
Eduardo Zamacois
It sagged upon the hinges, but, well-used to its vagaries, she overcame it with a regardless haste.
Alice Brown
It was a dark cordovan brown, made even darker by long usage, which had added oily stains to the well-used leather.
Gordon Randall Garrett (AKA David Gordon)
British Dictionary definitions for well-used well-used adjective (well used when postpositive)
- used or employed often or for a long time; well-worn
used adjective
- bought or sold second-handused cars
Word Origin and History for well-used used adj.
“second-hand,” 1590s, past participle adjective from use (v.). To be used to “accustomed, familiar” is recorded by 1520s. Verbal phrase used to “formerly did or was” (as in I used to love her) represents a construction attested from c.1300, and common from c.1400, but now surviving only in past tense form. The pronunciation is affected by the t- of to.
Idioms and Phrases with well-used used
In addition to the idiom beginning with used
also see:
Also see underuse.