Noun

(en noun)

The act of using.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author= Ed Pilkington

, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= ‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told , passage=In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.}}

Usefulness, benefit.

* Milton

God made two great lights, great for their use / To man.

* Alexander Pope

'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.

A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)

, volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}

Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

I have no further use for these textbooks.

(obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.

* 1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) ,

DON PEDRO. Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signior Benedick.

BEATRICE. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for a single one: [...]

* Jeremy Taylor

Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.

(archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.

* Spenser

Let later age that noble use envy.

* Shakespeare

How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / Seem to me all the uses of this world!

(obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

* Shakespeare

O Caesar! these things are beyond all use .

(religion) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.

the Sarum, or Canterbury, use'''; the Hereford '''use'''; the York '''use'''; the Roman '''use ; etc.

* Book of Common Prayer

From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use .

(forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

Noun

(uncountable) A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.

* All access was thronged. - Milton

(uncountable) The act of approaching or entering; an advance.

(uncountable) The right or ability of approaching or entering; admittance; admission; accessibility.

(uncountable) The quality of being easy to approach or enter.

* c. 1600 , (William Shakespeare), Act 2 Scene 1

I did repel his fetters, and denied His access to me. - Shakespeare, Hamlet, II-i

* {{quote-news, year=2011

, date=September 20 , author=Graeme Paton , title=University access plan 'will fail', says Russell Group , work=Telegraph citation , page= , passage=Coalition plans to widen access to university will fail to get to the 'root cause' of the problem, according to the Russell Group.}}

(uncountable) Admission to sexual intercourse.

* 1760s , (William Blackstone),

During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.

(countable) An increase by addition; accession; as, an access of territory.

* I, from the influence of thy looks, receive access in every virtue. - Milton

(countable) An onset, attack, or fit of disease; an ague fit.

* The first access looked like an apoplexy. - Burnet

(countable) An outburst of an emotion; a paroxysm; a fit of passion; as, an access of fury.

* 1946 , Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Abridgement of Volumes I-VI by D.C. Somervell)

It appears that, about the middle of the fourth century of the Christian Era, the Germans in the Roman service started the new practice of retaining their native names; and this change of etiquette, which seems to have been abrupt, points to a sudden access of self-confidence and self-assurance in the souls of the barbarian personnel which had previously been content to 'go Roman' without reservations.

Usage note: sometimes confused with excess

(uncountable, legal) The right of a non-custodial parent to visit their child.

(uncountable, computing) The process of locating data in memory.

(uncountable, Internet) Connection to or communication with a computer program or to the Internet.