vbl. sb. [f. USE v. + -ING1.]
1. The action of making use of something, or the fact of being used.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, liv. 2. I am made sary in myn vsynge.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, III. vi. l. 60. They han as wel dyvers aptes and dyvers maner usinges.
c. 1400. Cursor M., 29369 (Cott. Galba). Þat oþer [case] es of … portere, in vsyng of þaire awin mistere.
1422. Yonge, trans. Secreta Secret., 247. Vsynge of honementys aftyr the tyme and complexcione.
c. 1445. Pecock, Donet, 50. Mesurable and resonable vsing of worldly goodis.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 45. In iust commutacion & vsyng of these thynges.
1560. Bible (Genev.), Col. ii. 22. Which all perishe with the vsyng of them.
1656. Earl Monm., trans. Boccalini’s Advts. fr. Parnass., II. li. (1674), 202. The using of the same severities which Augustus … practised.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. x. § 2. The using of Words, without clear and distinct Ideas.
1705. Lond. Gaz., No. 4114/4. A fine Coach lined with Velvet, little the worse for using.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist., III. 315. His teeth wear, like those of most other animals, by using.
1826. Art of Brewing (ed. 2), 94. The twelve principal houses have … disclaimed the using of any material in their Beer, except malt and hops.
1893. C. C. King, in Social Eng., I. 43. Or … arrowheads as missile weapons there are none that seem worth the using.
† b. The celebration of the Eucharist. Obs.
1452. Paston Lett., I. 237. The seid servaunts … knelyng to see the usyng of the Masse. Ibid. (1454), 280.
c. 1500. Langforde’s Meditacyons, in Wickham Legg, Tracts on Mass (1904), 28. From the sacryng vnto the vsing be done, you may remember … the Passyon and deith of our sauyour.
c. The action of accustoming to something.
1702. Eng. Theophrast., 212. It goes a great way towards Felicity, the using of our selves to other Peoples Follies.
2. Manner of usage or employment.
1388. Wyclif, Rom., Prol. Thei weren brouȝt in to the lawe and profetis, that is, in to cerymonyes … acordynge with tho cerymonyes, which vsyng is contrarie now to the treuthe … of Cristis gospel.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 114 b. iii. The placing of these Images, is like vnto wordes written. iiii. The vtteraunce and vsing of them, is like vnto readynge.
1669. in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 32. Extolling the King of England’s using of people.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., I. 62 b/2. For the right using of these benefits, the Fathers may provide by Laws and Statutes.
1827. Keble, Chr. Y., Palm Sunday, v. As in this bad world below Noblest things find vilest using.
3. Using-up, consumption or exhaustion of a commodity, etc.
1863. Jas. Sanderson, Agric. Berw. & Roxb., 32. The using-up of the manure is the preferable mode.
1889. Hamerton, French & English, I. i. 14. The decline caused by industrialism and the rapid using-up of life in large cities.
4. Special Comb.: using-file, a file affixed to the work-bench (instead of being held in the hand), for having the work rubbed upon it; using-ground U.S., the haunt of wild-fowl; † using stone (see quot. 1688).
1683. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., Printing, xii. ¶ 2. The Using-File … is about nine or ten Inches long, and three or four Inches broad…. The two broad sides must be exactly flat and straight.
1688. Holme, Armoury, III. 303/1. The using File…; the teeth not half so rough as the common File. Ibid., 382/1. The Using Stone [of jewellers] … is a fat smooth Stone shooting out into two angles or points on each side.
1893. Harper’s Mag., Oct., 681/2. The ‘using-grounds’ of the coveys are generally known or suspected by the farmer.
