Disuse
[dɪs'juːs] or [dɪs'jus]
Definition
(v. t.) To cease to use; to discontinue the practice of.
(v. t.) To disaccustom; -- with to or from; as, disused to toil.
(n.) Cessation of use, practice, or exercise; inusitation; desuetude; as, the limbs lose their strength by disuse.
Checked by Ives
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Desuetude, discontinuance, non-observance.
Inputed by Joanna
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See USE_and_DESUETUDE]
Checked by Kathy
Definition
n. cessation or giving up of use or custom.—v.t. (dis-ūz′) to cease to use or practise.—n. Disusage (dis-ūz′-) gradual cessation of use or custom.
Editor: Ozzie
Examples
- But this instinct retained by our chickens has become useless under domestication, for the mother-hen has almost lost by disuse the power of flight. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- They have been so long in disuse in England, that at present I know no English name for them. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- This state of the eyes is probably due to gradual reduction from disuse, but aided perhaps by natural selection. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Abuse and disuse characterize the older view of the state: guardian and censor it has been, provider but grudgingly. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Its deplorable peculiarity was, that it was the faintness of solitude and disuse. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- The latter went into disuse many years ago. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Some, perhaps a great, effect may be attributed to the increased use or disuse of parts. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- It is true that the Gauls made use of an instrument nearly two thousand years before, but this contrivance fell into disuse with the decline of the Gallic fields. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Thus the young will not be modified, or will be modified only in a slight degree, through the effects of the increased use or disuse of parts. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- But we learn from the study of our domestic productions that the disuse of parts leads to their reduced size; and that the result is inherited. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- In many cases habit or use and disuse have probably come into play. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- It appears probable that disuse has been the main agent in rendering organs rudimentary. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- In some cases we might easily put down to disuse modifications of structure which are wholly, or mainly due to natural selection. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Treadles were subsequently applied, but after a time the machine fell into disuse and was apparently forgotten. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- It is scarcely possible that disuse can go on producing any further effect after the organ has once been rendered functionless. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Edited by Julia