in use

Questions about in use

What is another word for in use?

It depends which in use you mean. In the sense “(of facilities such as telephones or lavatories) unavailable for use by anyone else or indicating unavailability; (`engaged' is a British term for a busy telephone line)”, the synonyms are busy, engaged. Across all 2 senses there are 2 distinct synonyms, and they are not interchangeable with each other — this page lists them under the sense each one belongs to.

What is the opposite of in use?

WordNet records no antonym for in use. Antonymy in WordNet is a relation between specific word forms rather than between concepts, so it is recorded only where lexicographers judged the pairing direct. An absence here means none was recorded, not that none can be imagined.

Why are the synonyms for in use split into groups?

Because in use carries 2 recorded senses and each has its own set of substitutes. A single flat list would put words from unrelated meanings side by side with nothing to tell them apart, which is exactly how a writer picks the wrong one. The grouping comes from WordNet's synsets, not from an editorial judgement of ours.

Does this page cover every sense of in use?

It covers the 1 sense that carries a synonym, antonym, broader or narrower term. The remaining 1 sense has none recorded, so it is left off a thesaurus page and shown in full on the word page instead.

Where do the synonyms for in use come from?

From Princeton University's WordNet, a lexical database maintained by lexicographers since 1985. A synonym here means a word form that shares a synset with this word — a set of forms interchangeable in one recorded context. Nothing on this page is generated by a language model.

Other views of in use

• Full entry for in useAll 2 senses, with examples, usage labels, syllables and pronunciation.
• Rhymes for in useWhether this word can be rhymed at all — it is not in the pronouncing dictionary.
• Thesaurus homeHow WordNet synsets work, and the collections built for synonym work.