U

[urban homesteading]  {n.},  {informal}

Renovation and occupation through cooperative ownership by tenants of previously abandoned city apartment buildings.

[use every trick in the book]  {v. phr.},  {informal}

To avail oneself of any means at all in order to achieve one's goal, not exclusive of possibly immoral or illegal acts.

* /Algernon used every trick in the book to get Maxine to go out with him, but  […]

[use one's head] or  {slang} [use one's bean] or  {slang} [use one's noodle] or  {slang} use [one's noggin]  {v. phr.}

To use your brain or mind; think; have common sense. — Often used as a command.

If you used your bean you wouldn't be in trouble now.  […]

[use up]  {v. phr.}

1. To use until nothing is left; spend or consume completely.

Don't use up all the soap. Leave me some to wash with.

Jack used up his last dollar to see the movies.

Compare: [GIVE OUT] (5).

2.  {informal}

To tire  […]

[used to] (1)  {adj. phr.}

In the habit of or familiar with.

People get used to smoking and it is hard for them to stop.

Farmers are used to working outdoors in the winter.

* /After my eyes became used to the dim light in the cave, I saw an  […]

[used to] (2) or [did use to]  {v. phr.}

Did formerly; did in the past. — Usually used with an infinitive to tell about something past.

Uncle Henry used to have a beard, but he shaved it off.

Did your father use to work at the bank?

* /People  […]

[used to be] or [did use to be]  {v. phr.}

Formerly or once was.

Mary used to be small; but she has grown up.

[utility room]  {n.}

A room in a house or building for machinery and other things important in the daily use of the building and the work of the people in it.

There is a utility room upstairs where Mother does the laundry.

* /The oil burner is kept  […]