Purpose vs. Use — What's the Difference?

The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or goal

Take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of accomplishing or achieving something; employ

Determination; resolution

Take or consume (an amount) from a limited supply

To intend or resolve

Describing an action or situation that was done repeatedly or existed for a period in the past

The end for which something is done, is made or exists.

Be or become familiar with (someone or something) through experience

Function, role.

One would like or benefit from

(Sense of having a) meaning for existing or doing something.

The action of using something or the state of being used for a purpose

Resolution; determination.

The value or advantage of something

(obsolete) The subject of discourse; the point at issue.

The habitual consumption of a drug

(transitive) To have or set as one's purpose or aim; resolve to accomplish; intend; plan.

The characteristic ritual and liturgy of a Christian Church or diocese.

(intransitive) To have (an) intention, purpose, or design; to intend; to mean.

To put into service or employ for a purpose

To discourse.

To avail oneself of; practice

That which a person sets before himself as an object to be reached or accomplished; the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan, measure, or exertion; view; aim; design; intention; plan.

To conduct oneself toward; treat or handle

Proposal to another; discourse.

To seek or achieve an end by means of; exploit

Instance; example.

To take or consume for a purpose

To set forth; to bring forward.

To partake of, especially as a habit

To propose, as an aim, to one's self; to determine upon, as some end or object to be accomplished; to intend; to design; to resolve; - often followed by an infinitive or dependent clause.

(ys, yst) Used in the past tense followed by to in order to indicate a former state, habitual practice, or custom

To have a purpose or intention; to discourse.

(Slang) To take an illegal or narcotic drug, especially as a habit.

An anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your planned actions;

The act of using something; the application or employment of something for a purpose

What something is used for;

The condition or fact of being used

The quality of being determined to do or achieve something;

The manner of using; usage

Propose or intend;

The permission, privilege, or benefit of using something

Reach a decision;

The power or ability to use something

The need or occasion to use or employ something

The quality of being suitable or adaptable to an end; usefulness

A purpose for which something is used

Gain or advantage; good

Accustomed or usual procedure or practice

A particular custom or practice

Enjoyment of property, as by occupying or employing it.

The benefit or profit of lands and tenements of which the legal title is vested in another.

The arrangement establishing the equitable right to such benefits and profits.

A liturgical form practiced in a particular church, ecclesiastical district, or community.

The act of using.

(uncountable) The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.

Usefulness, benefit.

A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.

(archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.

(obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

(Christianity) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.

(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.

To utilize or employ.

(transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.

To expend; to consume by employing.

(transitive) To exploit.

(transitive) To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.

(intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.

To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.

To accustom; to habituate. Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.

To become accustomed, to accustom oneself.

To suggest, request, demand or expect that other people use a specific set of gender pronouns when referring to the subject.

To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)

(dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.

To behave, act, comport oneself.

The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one's service; the state of being so employed or applied; application; employment; conversion to some purpose; as, the use of a pen in writing; his machines are in general use.

Occasion or need to employ; necessity; as, to have no further use for a book.

Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of being used; usefulness; utility.

Continued or repeated practice; customary employment; usage; custom; manner; habit.

Common occurrence; ordinary experience.

The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese; as, the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford use; the York use; the Roman use; etc.

The premium paid for the possession and employment of borrowed money; interest; usury.

The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and limited to A for the use of B.

A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging, as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

To make use of; to convert to one's service; to avail one's self of; to employ; to put a purpose; as, to use a plow; to use a chair; to use time; to use flour for food; to use water for irrigation.

To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat; as, to use a beast cruelly.

To practice customarily; to make a practice of; as, to use diligence in business.

To accustom; to habituate; to render familiar by practice; to inure; - employed chiefly in the passive participle; as, men used to cold and hunger; soldiers used to hardships and danger.

To be wont or accustomed; to be in the habit or practice; as, he used to ride daily; - now disused in the present tense, perhaps because of the similarity in sound, between "use to," and "used to."

To be accustomed to go; to frequent; to inhabit; to dwell; - sometimes followed by of.

The act of using;

A particular service;

What something is used for;

(economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing;

A pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition;

(law) the exercise of the legal right to enjoy the benefits of owning property;

Exerting shrewd or devious influence especially for one's own advantage;

Put into service; make work or employ (something) for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose;

Take or consume (regularly or habitually);

Seek or achieve an end by using to one's advantage;

Use up, consume fully;

Avail oneself to;

Habitually do something (use only in the past tense);