used to
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /juːs(t).tu/, /juːs(t).tə/
  • Not homophonous with used in the sense of "made use of" (as in "the key was used to open the door"), which is IPA: /juːzd/
Adjective

used to (not comparable)

  1. (idiomatic, with noun phrase) Accustomed to, tolerant or accepting of.
    I am used to cleaning up other people’s mess.  I became used to his ways.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
      He was shivering a little, for he had always been used to sleeping in a proper bed, and by this time his coat had worn so thin and threadbare from hugging that it was no longer any protection to him.
Synonyms Translations Verb
  1. (temporal location) Formerly and habitually or repeatedly, but possibly no longer, did.
    I used to be undecided, but now I’m not so sure.  I used to like that band and I still do.  I used to know a guy from the UK who pronounced "mother" without the "r".  It used to be me, sitting in that chair.  There used to be open fields here. Now it's a shopping mall.
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175 ↗:
      They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
    • 1980, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson (lyrics), Agnetha Fältskog (lead vocalist), ABBA, The Winner Takes It All
      But tell me does she kiss like I used to kiss you? / Does it feel the same, when she calls your name?
    • 2002, David I. Grossvogel, Didn't You Used to Be Depardieu? ↗.
    • 2003, G. E. Kruckeberg, Things My Daddy Used to Say ↗.
Translations
  • Portuguese: use the imperfect tense of the verb that follows or imperfect of costumar followed by infinitive



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