usefuluse‧ful /ˈjuːsfəl/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective 
useful information A little Japanese can be really useful.useful for The space under the desk is useful for storing CDs.useful to techniques that could be useful to teachers Can you come and make yourself useful (=help people to do something)?—usefully adverbCOLLOCATIONSnounsuseful information/advice· She gave me some useful advice.a useful tip· Their website has some useful tips on selling your home.a useful way of doing something· Keeping lists of the words you learn is a useful way of remembering vocabulary.a useful tool· The Internet is a useful tool for investors.a useful contribution· He played well and made a useful contribution to the team’s performance.verbsfind something useful· Did you find the book useful?prove useful formal (=be useful)· This equipment could prove useful in testing babies’ hearing.phrasesit is useful to do something· It is useful to practise in front of an audience.come in useful (=be useful)· The extra income would come in useful.make yourself useful (=be helpful)· Don’t just stand there – make yourself useful!serve a useful purpose/function (=be useful)· Sending her to prison would serve no useful purpose.THESAURUSuseful something that is useful makes it easier for you to do something: · He gave me some useful advice.· a useful thing to knowhandy informal useful – used especially about something that is convenient and easy to use: · a handy little booklet· The book is full of handy hints.· I always keep old jars – you never know when they might come in handy (=be useful).helpful useful because it helps you to do something: · This drug can be helpful in treating depression.· helpful advice· helpful suggestionsof use [not before noun] if someone or something is of use, they are useful for you when you are doing something: · I hope you’ll find the book of use.· He wants to be of use.worthwhile if doing something is worthwhile, it is useful for you and you benefit from doing it: · The training was certainly worthwhile.· a worthwhile experience· It is worthwhile to start by asking ourselves why people get involved in crime.very usefulvaluable very useful in helping you do something: · His information was very valuable to the police.· The course was a valuable experience for me.· a valuable contributioninvaluable extremely useful in helping you do something: · His help was invaluable.· The drug could be invaluable for treating cancer patients.· an invaluable experienceindispensable someone or something that is indispensable is so useful and important that you cannot do something without them: · For walkers, a good compass is indispensable.· He became an indispensable part of the team.· an indispensable guide to travelling in Italybe great for something informal to be very useful for doing something: · The bag is great for taking on holiday.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Investigators have not found any useful clues in the case.
- Scotch tape is very useful for making quick repairs.
- See page 35 for a list of useful addresses.
- The bank gave us a lot of useful advice about starting our own business.
- This equipment will prove useful in testing premature babies who we suspect might have hearing problems.
- And a big stick comes in useful too.
- For parts, he scrounged around various offices and supply rooms, scavenging what seemed useful.
- It is useful to minimize the reminders and lectures.
- Often a single chemical reaction is not sufficient to synthesize a useful end-product.
- Other useful information is also given at the back of the book.
- The legal knowledge was useful, and the degree and license another step forward, but practicing law was not his ambition.
- Yes, those ladies had given a useful fillip to his prestige.
THESAURUS
something that is useful makes it easier for you to do something: · He gave me some useful advice.· a useful thing to know
informal useful – used especially about something that is convenient and easy to use: · a handy little booklet· The book is full of handy hints.· I always keep old jars – you never know when they might come in handy (=be useful).
useful because it helps you to do something: · This drug can be helpful in treating depression.· helpful advice· helpful suggestions
[not before noun] if someone or something is of use, they are useful for you when you are doing something: · I hope you’ll find the book of use.· He wants to be of use.
if doing something is worthwhile, it is useful for you and you benefit from doing it: · The training was certainly worthwhile.· a worthwhile experience· It is worthwhile to start by asking ourselves why people get involved in crime.
very useful very useful in helping you do something: · His information was very valuable to the police.· The course was a valuable experience for me.· a valuable contribution
extremely useful in helping you do something: · His help was invaluable.· The drug could be invaluable for treating cancer patients.· an invaluable experience
someone or something that is indispensable is so useful and important that you cannot do something without them: · For walkers, a good compass is indispensable.· He became an indispensable part of the team.· an indispensable guide to travelling in Italy
informal to be very useful for doing something: · The bag is great for taking on holiday.
Longman Language Activatoruseful something that is useful makes it easier for you to do something: · See page 35 for a list of useful addresses.· The bank gave us a lot of useful advice about starting our own business.useful for (doing) something: · Scotch tape is very useful for making quick repairs.useful to: · information that may be useful to the enemyuseful in (doing) something: · This equipment will prove useful in testing premature babies who we suspect might have hearing problems.
formal to be useful: · If there are items in the newspaper files which could be of use, please take a copy of them.be of use to: · This book will be of use to all teachers.be some/any use: · Would these computer cleaners be any use to you?be of some use (=be fairly useful): · The information is slightly out-of-date, but it could still be of some use.
informal useful and easy to use: · This handy booklet tells you everything you need to know about getting connected to the Internet.· a handy chart for converting pounds into kiloshandy for (doing) something: · There's a special brush you can attach to the vacuum cleaner, which is handy for cleaning the stairs.
designed to be useful rather than attractive - use this especially about clothes and things you use in your house: · The company specializes in making practical footwear for the leisure sports market.· a type of floor covering that is simple, practical, and cheap
especially spoken to be suitable and useful for a particular job or purpose: · The table does take up a lot of space, but it's good for parties.· The big jars are good for storing pasta.
something that is helpful is useful because it helps you to do something: · I found these cassettes very helpful when I was learning Spanish.· The Student Cook Book provides basic helpful advice without sounding patronising.helpful in doing something: · The drug Prozac can be helpful in treating anxiety.it is helpful to do something: · I think it would be helpful to summarize what we agreed at the last meeting.
help, advice, knowledge etc that is valuable is very useful in helping you do something: · Joyce gave us a lot of valuable advice when we first started the company.valuable to: · Your knowledge and experience would be very valuable to us.it is valuable for somebody to do something: · While it is valuable for children to have individual responsibilities, it is also good to share jobs with them.valuable contribution: · Nuclear power makes a valuable contribution to the environment by curbing carbon dioxide emissions.
use this to say that something you do has a useful result: · I didn't bother looking at the instructions -- I didn't think it was worth it.be worth doing/trying etc (=used especially to suggest doing something): · It may be worth putting an advertisement in the local paper.
extremely useful · This book has been invaluable as a source of teaching materials.· Contact with Western medical techniques proved invaluable, and the student doctors have benefited greatly.invaluable to · Margaret's sensible suggestions have been invaluable to us.invaluable for/in doing something · Improved sewage and water services were invaluable in preventing disease.
someone or something that is indispensable is so useful and important that you cannot do something without them: · For mountain-climbing a really good sleeping-bag is indispensable.· She soon became an indispensable member of staff.indispensable to: · A knowledge of classical music is indispensable to anyone who wants to apply for this job.
spoken use this about someone or something that is so useful that it would be very difficult to do something without them: · Of course we all have concerns about the environment but you can't do without a car out here in the countryside with no public transport.· Top TV chef Billy Williams says he couldn't manage without his food processor: "It cuts down preparation time by about half and saves you all those fiddly tasks."
useful only in particular situations informal also come in useful British informal something that comes in handy is not always necessary, but is good to have because it can be very useful in particular situations: · My knowledge of Spanish came in handy when the car broke down near Madrid.· Sometimes there are problems that are too big for you to sort out on your own. That's when professional advice comes in useful.come in handy for (doing) something: · A hacksaw always comes in handy for cutting plastic pipes.come in handy as: · I suppose you thought I might come in useful as a translator.
informal use this to say that something is more useful than it seems: · This typewriter may be old, but it has its uses.· A knowledge of Latin can have its uses -- for instance, it can help you if you are learning Italian.
the quality of being useful · Statistics have some usefulness in the study of public health issues.outlive its usefulness (=not be useful any more) · We are beginning to think that this factory has outlived its usefulness as our main supplier.
formal how useful and effective something is: · Demonstrations allow customers to get an immediate idea of a product's utility.· I have severe doubts about the utility of examinations on subjects which have been learned parrot-fashion.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYnouns She found the work very dull. Lots of women I know find him attractive. I found them quite easy to use. a few useful pointers about using the technique
· She gave me some useful advice.
· Their website has some useful tips on selling your home.
· Keeping lists of the words you learn is a useful way of remembering vocabulary.
· The Internet is a useful tool for investors.
· He played well and made a useful contribution to the team’s performance.
verbs· Did you find the book useful?
formal (=be useful)· This equipment could prove useful in testing babies’ hearing.
phrases· It is useful to practise in front of an audience.
(=be useful)· The extra income would come in useful.
(=be helpful)· Don’t just stand there – make yourself useful!
(=be useful)· Sending her to prison would serve no useful purpose.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· The book is full of good advice.
· This is a useful checklist for anyone travelling abroad.
· The car used in the robbery may provide important clues.
(=a reasonable one, based on sensible information)· There is not enough data for a valid comparison to be made.
· I joined the society because I felt I could make a useful contribution.
· He makes a useful distinction between the two theories.
(=useful experience)· That summer he got some valuable experience working in a tax office.
She found the work very dull. Lots of women I know find him attractive. I found them quite easy to use.· The information he gave me was very useful.
· Local radio is a useful means of advertising.
a few useful pointers about using the technique· Nuclear weapons serve no useful purpose and should be banned.
· People said television was their most useful source of local information.
· He made various helpful suggestions.
· Go to their website to find useful tips on buying and selling a home.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· But it is also useful to plan formal dissemination in advance.· Though the main purpose was to raise money, the crowd count was also useful for political chest-pounding.· These books are also useful for teacher-trainers preparing in-service courses, and as reference sources to teachers working on their own.· These debates were also useful in reallocating resources in order to set up and build an infrastructure in some specific areas.· Integrating soaking with cleaning operations is also useful.· It is also useful to understand the prognosis for this disease in the future.· It is also useful when giving a delivery date.· Expertise is also useful to those blocked from gaining other sources of power.
· This is why it is quite as useful in savoury as in sweet dishes.· They see themselves as useful and important people who have learned that they have something to contribute to their communities and families.· It is as useful as a dictionary.· Steady base-load electricity sources will always be needed, and solar and wind power can only act as useful supplements.· Both powers in practice are as useful as a parachute in a space ship - reassuring but not very practical.· Some find it useful to have extra pockets on a rucksack as useful organisers, others regard them as a hindrance.· A sample of a few hundred census records is often just as useful as a database of several thousands.
· It's especially useful in lofts or cellars, and will also dispose of bath and/or shower waste through the same pipes.· This variety is especially useful for planting in the corners of an aquarium, where it provides a shelter for refuge-seeking fishes.· Carbol fuchsin is especially useful for autoradiography as it will not interfere with emulsion and will not wash out in developer.· This is an especially useful process in plants with long creeping rootstocks such as Anubias, Lagenandra, and Acorus.· It may be especially useful, if used alongside other types of evidence.· This approach is especially useful for longer documents that require more planning.· It is especially useful in patients with frequently occurring, slow, haemodynamically well-tolerated tachycardia.· Found something intriguing, improbable, insane or especially useful on the Net?
· Propagating plants An electric propagator is both economical and extremely useful.· With more detailed information, this can be an extremely useful feature.· Morphine and its related narcotics have proved extremely useful in their ability to control pain.· Infantry officer Thomas Giltner also found C4 extremely useful.· This can be extremely useful for overviews of a thin section, grain shape and size determinations and for fabric analysis.· One extremely useful diagnostic technique is classroom observation by psychologists and / or educators familiar with the disorder.· Film evidence can be extremely useful in investigating how the media both influence and reflect contemporary events and opinion.· The dialogue proved extremely useful to Park.
· In some of Darwin's own researches we can see how useful it was.· Realising how useful it would be to have a doctor in their band, Magdalena was put to studying medicine.· Q30 How useful is social class as a variable for segmenting consumer markets?· How would this affect the provision of instructions for performing loops? How useful would it be?· And as for the gawping idiots - haven't you thought how useful a little judicious publicity could be?· Even if we accept this, it is questionable how useful an analytical framework is which has an untenable base.· Have you any criticisms of the output layout? How useful are the graphical facilities? 2.· Results were similar when staff were asked how informative and how useful is the content of the publication.
· This is perhaps a more useful analogy than might at first sight appear.· It is equally correct and sometimes more useful to view demand from the reference point of quantity.· This is the same as saying information delivered in a particular form is more useful in certain applications than in others.· Jane gets more useful when returned to.· I got a lot more useful background about flying around both North and South Islands from Murray too.· And if I may say so, they seem more useful than yours.· If you've ended up with 2 secs. stop down and repeat until you get something more useful.· When this happens, better or more useful alternatives are missed, perhaps with new companies or new colleges.
· Indirect methods are the most useful.· In recent years, a dozen rules have emerged as most useful: 1.· Many of the most useful people in the Linux community can be found in newsgroups and mailing lists.· Presented here are the three techniques that I have found most useful for working fathers.· This is most useful, since it promotes cash flow through the business in the first and early years of trading.· As noted earlier, water is the most useful shielding material against cosmic rays and solar protons.· However, 39% felt tax planning was the most useful area of advice, and only 27% cited business strategy.· The new technology could prove most useful in subsea drilling, where the expenses involved in stopping production are enormous.
· Finally, deviant country studies are particularly useful for theory generation.· The assay is particularly useful in patients with circulating insulin antibodies or in those being treated with insulin.· These are particularly useful if the sack is intended for group use, or for young people who are still growing.· This may not at first seem particularly useful.· Their booklet Help at Hand is particularly useful.· This is particularly useful if done before leaving for work on hot days.· The Fishpen will be particularly useful to separate young fish from their parents or to help introduce new fish safely.· The method of submatrices is particularly useful in solving both these problems.
· It is therefore very useful to make up lists of those outlets which you may want to contact regularly.· The final chapter, Chapter 8, provides very useful guidance in further reading which can be invaluable to the motivated student.· Brad Johnstone has a sound track record of moulding such players into a very useful outfit.· Familiarity with two basic property documents - a lease and a conveyance - is very useful.· Thornton had good contacts as well, and proved very useful in arranging meetings.· So the visual record may be very useful in some situations.· But whatever his motives, he soon realized that he had tapped a very useful vein of information in Ted Morgan.· Old deeds can be very useful for such a purpose, and certainly any containing plans should in general be retained.
NOUN· Kit-house companies will help you design your home and provide useful advice.· They entertained them with the utmost hospitality and before they bade them farewell Helenus gave them useful advice about their journey.· This one contains some more useful advice at this particular stage.· These specialists can offer useful advice and practical support.· Nigel gave her a little useful advice on publishers too.· Ceologists and environmental specialists can generally provide useful advice.
· Yet it does perform a number of useful functions. 1.· The use of categories, when those categories serve a useful function, is not questioned.· We've found a tiny offshoot of imagination that once, like the appendix doubtless had some useful function.· While it survived, it served a useful function in obtaining agreement on some economic questions such as currency convertibility and capital transfers.· To be fair, these materials performed a useful function for a time in the propellers of Spitfires and similar aircraft.· One useful function of hypotheses is that they help to indicate what data are needed for their testing.· However, he suggests that fear does have a useful function.
· Analysis of a water supply gives much useful information and is essential when a new supply is being considered for textile processing.· Studies of the spectrum of sunlight reflected from these asteroids have given us useful information on the minerals present in them.· More specifically, in most offices the interception and reading of correspondence which seemed a possible source of useful information still continued.· Large numbers of locally published guide-books and brochures relating to individual shrines have proved to be mines of useful information.· Both naturally-occurring and artificial isotopic mixtures can give useful information.· He had no useful information about the shooting that took place nearby as Cosby changed a flat tire, police said.· Other useful information is also given at the back of the book.· This was useful information in a terraced society.
· Without them the useful life of streptomycin might have been confined to a few years.· It has an expected useful life of ten years, after which its estimated salvage value would be $ 10, 000.· The instance cited was where debt charges continue to be included in revenue accounts for financing assets whose useful life is over.· Finally the salvage value of the new equipment at the end of its expected useful life is reflected.· It has an expected useful life of ten years and the residual value is likely to be negligible.· Any asset with an expected useful life of more than one year is normally considered a capital asset.· According to Craig, the length of useful life of geological papers varies according to their subfield.· Depreciation accounting is simply a technique used to allocate the cost of a capital asset over its expected useful life.
· That would serve no useful purpose.· No useful purpose would be served by repeating it here.· It is perhaps in the field of attribution that this catalogue serves the most useful purpose.· Brand names serve a useful purpose, not just for the producer but for the consumer as well.· Therefore, s.64 would no longer serve a useful purpose.· But adverse planetary influences invariably serve a useful purpose - and never more so than right now.· Mr Kaczynski has determined that no useful purpose would be served in demanding the duplicative process of a preliminary hearing.
· He seemed a useful source where Dysart's Oxford days were concerned.· Anyone who is interested in woven textiles will find this a useful source book.· Social historians of the future should find it a useful source when quoting the anti-Reagan lobby.· Such leases are therefore a useful source of genealogical information.· This branding element can be a useful source of revenue, as this space can be sold to advertise local businesses.· As always, the behaviour of light is a useful source of illustration.· It chronicles recent changes within the professions and the health services and is a useful source of reference and information.
· I discovered this to be a useful tip, but not when it came to long-distance telephone calls.· Anyway, you really should have just taken the useful tips from his lecture and let the rest slide.· Here is a very useful tip.· Both are full of useful tips on bringing about organizational change.· It also contains a record of races and also distance & metric conversions plus many useful tips.· A useful tip is to make sure that no more than two brandy snaps are baked on each tray.· The useful tips and good advice really came in handy-despite my years of experience.
· This form, printed on three sides of A4 paper, is a useful way of recording information elicited during the interview.· Social contracts are strictly hypothetical-no one has ever actually signed one-but they provide a useful way of thinking about social arrangements.· Air photographs Aerial photographs are often a useful way to start to approach these historic landscapes and townscapes.· But some issues, like this one, are so universally difficult that a commission is the only useful way to proceed.· One useful way of assisting your learning is to keep a diary.· Managed care can be a very useful way to provide care to a lot of people.· The West can still help, in a more useful way than Mr Kissinger proposed.· Several years ago, Pensacola, Florida, developed a useful way to classify public services.
WORD FAMILYnounusageusedisusemisusereuseusefulness ≠ uselessnessuseradjectivereusableused ≠ unuseddisuseduseful ≠ uselessusable ≠ unusableverbusemisusereuseadverbusefully ≠ uselessly
helping you to do or get what you want OPP useless: useful information A little Japanese can be really useful.useful for The space under the desk is useful for storing CDs.useful to techniques that could be useful to teachers Can you come and make yourself useful (=help people to do something)?—usefully adverbCOLLOCATIONSnounsuseful information/advice· She gave me some useful advice.a useful tip· Their website has some useful tips on selling your home.a useful way of doing something· Keeping lists of the words you learn is a useful way of remembering vocabulary.a useful tool· The Internet is a useful tool for investors.a useful contribution· He played well and made a useful contribution to the team’s performance.verbsfind something useful· Did you find the book useful?prove useful formal (=be useful)· This equipment could prove useful in testing babies’ hearing.phrasesit is useful to do something· It is useful to practise in front of an audience.come in useful (=be useful)· The extra income would come in useful.make yourself useful (=be helpful)· Don’t just stand there – make yourself useful!serve a useful purpose/function (=be useful)· Sending her to prison would serve no useful purpose.THESAURUSuseful something that is useful makes it easier for you to do something: · He gave me some useful advice.· a useful thing to knowhandy informal useful – used especially about something that is convenient and easy to use: · a handy little booklet· The book is full of handy hints.· I always keep old jars – you never know when they might come in handy (=be useful).helpful useful because it helps you to do something: · This drug can be helpful in treating depression.· helpful advice· helpful suggestionsof use [not before noun] if someone or something is of use, they are useful for you when you are doing something: · I hope you’ll find the book of use.· He wants to be of use.worthwhile if doing something is worthwhile, it is useful for you and you benefit from doing it: · The training was certainly worthwhile.· a worthwhile experience· It is worthwhile to start by asking ourselves why people get involved in crime.very usefulvaluable very useful in helping you do something: · His information was very valuable to the police.· The course was a valuable experience for me.· a valuable contributioninvaluable extremely useful in helping you do something: · His help was invaluable.· The drug could be invaluable for treating cancer patients.· an invaluable experienceindispensable someone or something that is indispensable is so useful and important that you cannot do something without them: · For walkers, a good compass is indispensable.· He became an indispensable part of the team.· an indispensable guide to travelling in Italybe great for something informal to be very useful for doing something: · The bag is great for taking on holiday.