transitive verb u·til·ized,
u·til·iz·ing,
u·til·iz·es To put to use, especially to find a profitable or practical use for. See Synonyms at
use.
Origin:
Origin: French utiliser
Origin: , from Italian utilizzare
Origin: , from utile, useful
Origin: , from Latin ūtilis
Origin: , from ūtī, to use
.
Related Forms:
- uˌtil·i·zaˈtion (-ĭ-zāˈshən) noun
Usage Note: A number of critics have remarked that
utilize is an unnecessary substitute for
use. It is true that many occurrences of
utilize could be replaced by
use with no loss to anything but pretentiousness, for example, in sentences such as
They utilized questionable methods in their analysis or
We hope that many commuters will continue to utilize mass transit after the bridge has reopened. But
utilize can mean “to find a profitable or practical use for.” Thus the sentence
The teachers were unable to use the new computers might mean only that the teachers were unable to operate the computers, whereas
The teachers were unable to utilize the new computers suggests that the teachers could not find ways to employ the computers in instruction.