Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to need, to desire, to ‘do with’, e.g. I could use a decent meal.

1910		Wash. Post 3 July 3/1: I told him we could use 100 cans.
1929		(con. WWI) J.B. Wharton Squad 26: I won’t say I couldn’t use a drink right now. I’m so dry I can’t spit.
1933		W.R. Burnett Dark Hazard (1934) 31: Don’t be a chump. Any guy can use sixty bucks.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 54: I could use a drink.
1953		J. Thompson Alcoholics (1993) 36: Looked like a man who could use a slug, if ever I saw one.
1968		(con. 1940s) G. Dutton Andy 221: Boy, could I use a lay.
1975		J. Wambaugh Choirboys (1976) 160: I could use a drink.
1986		S. King It (1987) 626: We can both use a drink.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 252: He could use a beer or something.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 583: I could use a drink of water.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 302: I could use a doughnut.

2. (drugs) to take narcotic drugs, esp. heroin.

1920		F. Williams Hop-Heads 27: It doesn’t matter whether you’re peddling or just using it. Once a fiend, always a crook to them.
1929		E. Booth Stealing Through Life 123: You get some of the craziest notions – for a guy that’s not using stuff.
1937		‘Boxcar Bertha’ Sister of the Road (1975) 101: I don’t use dope. I don’t want to use dope.
1953		‘William Lee’ Junkie (1966) 14: At that time I had never used any junk.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 207: Even though he was pushing now, he wasn’t using.
1975		D. Goines Inner City Hoodlum 170: You ever...you know, use?
1980		(con. 1940s–60s) H. Huncke ‘Ed Leary’ in Eve. Sun Turned Crimson (1998) 126: It didn’t take much to get us high — neither Eddie or me had used for quite some time.
1990		Sydney Morn. Herald 10 May 10/4: [M]y mum [...] is really upset that I still use.
1995		J. Cameron Vinnie Got Blown Away 34: Vinnie didn’t use, it was no good to him. Liked a bit of speed, even acid, but didn’t use.
1998		(con. 1986) G. Pelecanos Sweet Forever 19: I said I wasn’t using.
2002		Indep. on Sun. Rev. 27 Oct. 14: If she was using I’d know.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 185: Jessica had started drinking again [...] Soon after that, she was using again.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] ‘You a junkie, too?’ ‘I use’.
2021		T. Swerdlow Straight Dope [ebook] [H]ard-core, sordid South Central shit. Rooms by the hour to fuck and use in.

3. to consume a drink.

1940

R. Chandler Farewell, My Lovely (1949) 29: She used her second drink. I went over and stood the bottle on an end beside her.