ppl. a.
† 1. Well practised or exercised. Obs.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, III. 379. For thai war wicht, and weill wsyt in wer.
2. a. Rightly or effectively used.
1594. Selimus, xx. H 2 b. A societie of puddings, did you marke that well vsed metaphor?
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 200. [He] only us’d For prospect, what well us’d had bin the pledge Of immortalitie.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. xvii. As she stands above him with her hardened manner, and her well-used eyes.
b. Much or often used.
1728–46. Thomson, Spring, 36. Where the well-us’d plough Lies in the furrow.
1835. Willis, Pencillings, I. viii. 54. A little further on was a baker’s shop, with a well-used oven.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, liii. That’s the sexton’s spade, and it’s a well-used one, as you see.
