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

While PCs don’t need hard disk drives like they used to, data centers do, and for that reason, HDDs are only growing in demand.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026

The CU Boulder team wanted to understand how similar principles could be used to create manufactured materials.

From Science Daily • Jun. 15, 2026

When I was a child, I used to spend my summer holidays in East Germany and I didn’t expect things to change, he told AFP by email from Redhill, south of London.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

GLP-1 drugs, which are already used to lower heart risk and treat sleep apnea, are expected to be more widely used for cardiac protection.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 14, 2026

My vision blurry, I find my way outside to the terrace and sit at the table Mr. Harris and I used to sit at, back when he was feeling well enough to go outside.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam