in use
49
1.0
- idiom
:
en uso
- The next bungalow is not in use.
- currently in use
- in use today
- now in use
So we've got HEDT high end desktop CPU's in use for video editing.
- So we've got HEDT high end desktop CPU's in use for video editing.
- It's like the first laser that's in use as a weapon.
- The hand is immobilized, so the hand not usually in use has to do all the work.
- It was, in fact, away from the wall, obviously not in use.
- But on the actual battlefield electricity was not that much in use.
- If you under flow it, you pre memory that's still in use.
- OK the the smallest nuclear weapon that America has ever had in use was the Davy Crockett weapon system.
- So we don't when we talk about gene editing, we have the the technology which is in use is like a CRISPR.
Examples
-
It still runs under the city, but it's no longer in use.
-
The IY TCM program is in use across a variety of cultures and populations.
Academic text (2011) -
- This box is already in use.
-
It's still in use today.
-
It's in use at the moment.
-
It's safe and still in use.
-
It's not in use now.
-
Sorry, the laundry room is in use now.
-
Do the assessments that are currently in use sufficiently predict student outcomes?
Academic text (2011) -
This box is in use for storing supplies.
Synonyms
86
1.0
Unavailable because someone else is using it
81
3.4
Not able to be used, reached, or bought
24
3.2
Working now and serving its purpose
12
3.7
A machine used now in regular service, for example a bus
A seat or place that someone is using
Already in use so you cannot use it
Antonyms
How Occupied
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'being used or occupied' is directly derivable from combining the preposition 'in' (indicating a state or location) with the noun 'use' (the action or function), so the phrase literally describes something that is within use. This compositional preposition + noun pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand 'in use'.
Etymology
In use comes from the simple picture of something being in use: imagine a chair with someone sitting on it, so the chair is not free. So in use means 'being used' or 'occupied' now.