employ
- use
‘employ’
If you employ someone, you pay them to work for you.
The company employs 7.5 million people.
He was employed as a research assistant.
If something is employed for a particular purpose, it is used for that purpose. You can say, for example, that a particular method or technique is employed.
A number of ingenious techniques are employed.
The methods employed are varied, depending on the material in question.
You can also say that a machine, tool, or weapon is employed.
Similar technology could be employed in the major cities.
What matters most is how the tools are employed.
‘use’
However, employ is a formal word when it is used to talk about such things as methods or tools. You usually say that a method or tool is used.
This method has been extensively used in the United States.
These weapons are used in training sessions.