Meanings
past used to
- 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 - 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.
Origin
From use (“to perform habitually”) + to.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
use to. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/use%20to
“use to.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/use%20to. Accessed November 3, 2026.
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.