Use vs Less - What's the difference?
use | less |
The act of using.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=
, volume=188, issue=26, page=6, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Usefulness, benefit.
* Milton
* Alexander Pope
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= Occasion or need to employ; necessity.
(obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
* 1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) ,
* Jeremy Taylor
(archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
* Spenser
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
* Shakespeare
(religion) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.
* Book of Common Prayer
(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.
(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=
, title= To exhaust the supply of; to consume by employing
:
To exploit.
:
*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=
, magazine=(American Scientist), title= (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
(past tense with infinitive) To habitually do. See used to.
:
To smaller extent.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= In lower degree.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
* {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times
, passage=That brief moment after the election four years ago, when many Americans thought Mr. Obama’s election would presage a new, less fractious political era, now seems very much a thing of the past. }}
* 1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, p. 141:
A smaller amount (of); not as much.
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= (proscribed) A smaller number of; fewer.
* 1952 , Thomas M Pryor, New York Times , 7 Sep 1952:
* 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 555:
* 2003 , Timandra Harkness, The Guardian , 16 Dec 2003:
Minus; not including
(obsolete) To make less; to lessen.
As verbs the difference between use and less
is that use is while less is (obsolete) to make less; to lessen.As an adverb less is
to smaller extent.As an adjective less is
.As a preposition less is
minus; not including.As a conjunction less is
(obsolete) unless.use
English
(wikipedia use)Alternative forms
* (archaic)Etymology 1
From (etyl) from Old English nytt.Noun
(en noun)Ed Pilkington
‘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.}}
- God made two great lights, great for their use / To man.
- 'Tis use alone that sanctifies expense.
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.}}
- I have no further use for these textbooks.
- 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: [...]
- Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.
- Let later age that noble use envy.
- How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / Seem to me all the uses of this world!
- O Caesar! these things are beyond all use .
- the Sarum, or Canterbury, use'''; the Hereford '''use'''; the York '''use'''; the Roman '''use ; etc.
- From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use .
Synonyms
* (act of using) employment, usage, note, nait * (usefulness) benefit, good, point, usefulness, utility, note, naitDerived terms
* disuse * fair use * hyper-use * misuse * no use * overuse * reuse * underuse * useful * useless * usement * what’s the useEtymology 2
From (etyl) ).Verb
(us)David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
Wild Plants to the Rescue, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
Katie L. Burke
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.}}
- For in the Rites of funeration they did use to anoint the dead body, with Aromatick Spices and Oyntments, before they buried them.
Synonyms
* engage, utilise * (exploit) take advantage ofDerived terms
* abuse * disuse * reuse * misuse * usability * usable * usage * used * used to * useful * userReferences
*Statistics
*less
English
Adverb
(-)Katrina G. Claw
Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm, volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
citation
Antonyms
* moreAdjective
- Those Rattels are somewhat like the chape of a Rapier, but lesse [...].
William E. Conner
An Acoustic Arms Race, volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
- This is not a happy situation as far as the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes is concerned because it means less jobs for the union's members here at home.
- No less than four standard-bearers went before them, carrying huge crimson banners emblazoned with the golden lion.
- Although my hosts, G S Aviation, can teach you to fly in Wiltshire, an intensive week at their French airfield means less problems with the weather, cheap but good living, and complete removal from any distractions.
Usage notes
Antonyms
* moreSee also
* fewerPreposition
(English prepositions)- It should then tax all of that as personal income, less the proportion of the car's annual mileage demonstrably clocked up on company business.
Antonyms
* plusVerb
- (Gower)
