used to

British  

/ juːst /

adjective

1. made familiar with; accustomed to

   I am used to hitchhiking

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verb

1. (takes an infinitive or implied infinitive) used as an auxiliary to express habitual or accustomed actions, states, etc, taking place in the past but not continuing into the present

   I don't drink these days, but I used to

   I used to fish here every day

used to Idioms  

1. Accustomed or habituated to. This expression is often put as , as in I'm not used to driving a manual-shift car , or She can't get used to calling him Dad . [Early 1500s]

2. Formerly. This sense is used with a following verb to indicate a past state, as in I used to ride my bicycle to the post office , or This used to be the best restaurant in town . [Late 1800s]

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Usage

The most common negative form of used to is didn't used to (or didn't use to ), but in formal contexts used not to is preferred

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

used to

Many creators oppose AI because it could replace humans and was built using the unauthorized scraping of creative works used to train generative AI video and image models.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026

The restaurant at his casino, which used to operate around the clock, has laid off about 20 employees and switched to a buffet format that is open only in the morning.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

She might need a little more oversight than you are used to giving.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026

But fish meal is selling for record-high prices after officials in Peru, the biggest producer of the anchovies used to make it, suspended this year’s catch early.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

I used to do that when I wasn’t happy with my work, but I’ve realized that Ms. Wilcox is right.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam