Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Use \Use\, n. [OE. us use, usage, L. usus, from uti, p. p. usus,
   to use. See {Use}, v. t.]
   1. The act of employing anything, or of applying it to one's
      service; the state of being so employed or applied;
      application; employment; conversion to some purpose; as,
      the use of a pen in writing; his machines are in general
      use.

            Books can never teach the use of books. --Bacon.

            This Davy serves you for good uses.   --Shak.

            When he framed All things to man's delightful use.
                                                  --Milton.

   2. Occasion or need to employ; necessity; as, to have no
      further use for a book. --Shak.

   3. Yielding of service; advantage derived; capability of
      being used; usefulness; utility.

            God made two great lights, great for their use To
            man.                                  --Milton.

            'T is use alone that sanctifies expense. --Pope.

   4. Continued or repeated practice; customary employment;
      usage; custom; manner; habit.

            Let later age that noble use envy.    --Spenser.

            How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me
            all the uses of this world!           --Shak.

   5. Common occurrence; ordinary experience. [R.]

            O C[ae]sar! these things are beyond all use. --Shak.

   6. (Eccl.) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any
      diocese; as, the Sarum, or Canterbury, use; the Hereford
      use; the York use; the Roman use; etc.

            From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but
            one use.                              --Pref. to
                                                  Book of Common
                                                  Prayer.

   7. The premium paid for the possession and employment of
      borrowed money; interest; usury. [Obs.]

            Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use
            and principal, to him.                --Jer. Taylor.

   8. [In this sense probably a corruption of OF. oes, fr. L.
      opus need, business, employment, work. Cf. {Operate}.]
      (Law) The benefit or profit of lands and tenements. Use
      imports a trust and confidence reposed in a man for the
      holding of lands. He to whose use or benefit the trust is
      intended shall enjoy the profits. An estate is granted and
      limited to A for the use of B.

   9. (Forging) A stab of iron welded to the side of a forging,
      as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by
      hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

   {Contingent}, or {Springing}, {use} (Law), a use to come into
      operation on a future uncertain event.

   {In use}.
      (a) In employment; in customary practice observance.
      (b) In heat; -- said especially of mares. --J. H. Walsh.

   {Of no use}, useless; of no advantage.

   {Of use}, useful; of advantage; profitable.

   {Out of use}, not in employment.

   {Resulting use} (Law), a use, which, being limited by the
      deed, expires or can not vest, and results or returns to
      him who raised it, after such expiration.

   {Secondary}, or {Shifting}, {use}, a use which, though
      executed, may change from one to another by circumstances.
      --Blackstone.

   {Statute of uses} (Eng. Law), the stat. 27 Henry VIII., cap.
      10, which transfers uses into possession, or which unites
      the use and possession.

   {To make use of}, {To put to use}, to employ; to derive
      service from; to use.

Contingent \Con*tin"gent\, a. [L. contingens, -entis, p. pr. of
   contingere to touch on all sides, to happen; con- + tangere
   to touch: cf. F. contingent. See {Tangent}, {Tact}.]
   1. Possible, or liable, but not certain, to occur;
      incidental; casual.

            Weighing so much actual crime against so much
            contingent advantage.                 --Burke.

   2. Dependent on that which is undetermined or unknown; as,
      the success of his undertaking is contingent upon events
      which he can not control. ``Uncertain and contingent
      causes.'' --Tillotson.

   3. (Law) Dependent for effect on something that may or may
      not occur; as, a contingent estate.

            If a contingent legacy be left to any one when he
            attains, or if he attains, the age of twenty-one.
                                                  --Blackstone.

Contingent \Con*tin"gent\, n.
   1. An event which may or may not happen; that which is
      unforeseen, undetermined, or dependent on something
      future; a contingency.

            His understanding could almost pierce into future
            contingets.                           --South.

   2. That which falls to one in a division or apportionment
      among a number; a suitable share; proportion; esp., a
      quota of troops.

            From the Alps to the border of Flanders, contingents
            were required . . . 200,000 men were in arms.
                                                  --Milman.

Source : WordNet®

contingent
     adj 1: possible but not certain to occur; "they had to plan for
            contingent expenses"
     2: determined by conditions or circumstances not yet
        established; "arms sales contingent on the approval of
        congress" [syn: {contingent on(p)}, {dependent on(p)}, {dependant
        on(p)}, {depending on(p)}]
     3: uncertain because of uncontrollable circumstances; "the
        results of confession were not contingent, they were
        certain"- George Eliot
     n 1: a gathering of persons representative of some larger group;
          "each nation sent a contingent of athletes to the
          Olympics"
     2: a temporary military unit; "the peace-keeping force includes
        one British contingent" [syn: {detail}]