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Anonymous Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

the meaning of use in this sentence

"why does it use up the ground?"
the pronoun 'it' refers to a fig tree.
  

Top answer

This seems a strange sentence in isolation. It needs more context. The context is a parable, The Barren Fig Tree .

— GPY

  • This seems a strange sentence in isolation.
  • It needs more context.
  • The context is a parable, The Barren Fig Tree .
  • The speaker is basically asking why the fig tree is taking up space in the vineyard when it is unproductive, and when something more useful could be planted there.
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4 Answers
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This seems a strange sentence in isolation. It needs more context. The context is a parable, The Barren Fig Tree. The speaker is basically asking why the fig tree is taking up space in the vineyard when it is unproductive, and when something more useful could be planted there.
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Thanks GPY, but I'm afraid that I failed to put across what I wanted to know.
I was reading a bible when I came across the sentence.
I guessed at the meaning with the help of the context and I'd never seen the verb 'use' used like that.
So I looked it up in a few dictionaries, but none of them said the verb could be used intransitively.
I wanted to know exactly what the verb meant,
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"use up" is a transitive phrasal verb.
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Anonymoususe up
use all of something until it is all gone

Don't use up all the toothpaste; I still need to brush my teeth before work this morning.
Douglas used up all the butter. We'll have to get some more when we go shopping tomorrow.
Helen used nearly all our string for her science project, but there was still a little le
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