use to

/juːs.tu//juːs.tə/

verb

Synonym of used to.

“Did I use to wear that?”

Similar

Meanings

verbuse to (third-person singular simple present use to, no present participle, simple past used to, no past participle)

past used to

  1. infinitiveno past participleno present participlepresentnow uncommon outside certain constructionsInfinitive or present tense form of used to: formerly (and habitually or repeatedly) be accustomed to.

    Did I use to wear that?

    1 more example

    I did not use to think her wanting in self possession, but she had not quite enough for the demands of yesterday.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 180–181
  2. no past participleno present participlenonstandardproscribedSynonym of used to.

    I use to go every year, until I moved out of the area.

    Synonyms: used to

  3. no past participleno present participleUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see use, to.

    Drones have become so critical to battlefield success that at times they are used to take out other drones.

    2022 December 2, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Mary Ilyushina, Kostiantyn Khudov, “Russia and Ukraine are fighting the first full-scale drone war”, in Washington Post

Synonyms & antonyms

verbSynonym of used to.

Similar

Origin

From use (“to perform habitually”) + to.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

use to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/use%20to

MLA

“use to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/use%20to. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “use to,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/use%20to.

Source: use to on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.