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Drain vs Use - What's the difference?

drain | use |

As verbs the difference between drain and use

is that drain is to lose liquid while use is .

As a noun drain

is a conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.

drain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, volume=101, issue=2, page=114, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , author=Frank Fish, George Lauder , title= Not Just Going with the Flow , passage=An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex . The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain , as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.}}
  • An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.
  • Something consuming resources and providing nothing in return.
  • (label) An act of urination.
  • (label) The name of one terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

    • Derived terms

    * circle the drain * down the drain * drain fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To lose liquid.
    • The clogged sink drained slowly.
  • To flow gradually.
    • The water of low ground drains off.
  • (ergative) To cause liquid to flow out of.
    • Please drain the sink. It's full of dirty water.
  • (ergative) To convert a perennially wet place into a dry one.
    • They had to drain the swampy land before the parking lot could be built.
  • To deplete of energy or resources.
    • The stress of this job is really draining me.
  • To draw off by degrees; to cause to flow gradually out or off; hence, to exhaust.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Fountains drain the water from the ground adjacent.
  • * Motley
    • But it was not alone that he drained their treasure and hampered their industry.
  • (obsolete) To filter.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Salt water, drained through twenty vessels of earth, hath become fresh.
  • (pinball) To fall off the bottom of the playfield.
  • * 1990 , Steven A. Schwartz, Compute's Nintendo Secrets
    • When a ball finally drains , it's gulped down by a giant gator beneath the set of flippers.

    Derived terms

    * drainage * drain the lizard (vulgar)

    Anagrams

    *

    use

    English

    (wikipedia use)

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) from Old English nytt.

    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.
    • Synonyms
    * (act of using) employment, usage, note, nait * (usefulness) benefit, good, point, usefulness, utility, note, nait
    Derived terms
    * disuse * fair use * hyper-use * misuse * no use * overuse * reuse * underuse * useful * useless * usement * what’s the use

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ).

    Verb

    (us)
  • (archaic) To accustom; to habituate.
  • :
  • *(John Milton) (1608–1674)
  • *:Thou with thy compeers, / Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels.
  • To employ; to apply; to utilize.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
    • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • To exhaust the supply of; to consume by employing
  • :
  • To exploit.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Katie L. Burke
    • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= In the News , passage=Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.}}
  • (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
  • :
  • *(John Milton) (1608–1674)
  • *:How wouldst thou use me now?
  • *(Joseph Addison) (1672–1719)
  • *:Cato has used me ill.
  • To habitually do; to be wont to do.
  • :
  • *Bible, 1 (w) iv.9
  • *:Use hospitality one to another.
  • *, I.48:
  • *:Peter Pol'', doctor in divinitie used to sit upon his mule, who as ''Monstrelet'' reporteth, was wont to ride up and downe the streets of ''Paris , ever sitting sideling, as women use .
  • * 1693 , Sir Norman Knatchbull, Annotations upon some difficult texts in all the books of the New Testament
    • For in the Rites of funeration they did use to anoint the dead body, with Aromatick Spices and Oyntments, before they buried them.
  • (past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to.
  • :
    • Synonyms
    * engage, utilise * (exploit) take advantage of
    Derived terms
    * abuse * disuse * reuse * misuse * usability * usable * usage * used * used to * useful * user

    References

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    Statistics

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    Anagrams

    * * * 100 English basic words English heteronyms 1000 English basic words ----