Single word for "make good use of something"

Question

Does a single word for "make good use of" exists?

Answer 1

I would suggest utilise

I instinctively spell this ending in -ise, but utilize is the common spelling internationally. I found this useful entry which elaborates further;

Utilise or Utilize

For example, "He utilised his experience in order to solve the problem".

From Collins

to make practical or worthwhile use of

Answer 2

leverage

would be another word, but not applicable to all the contexts, it means to take advantage of already existing things in a useful way, while utilize might mean to use it for any needed purpose even if it implies a long process of preparing a new thing from the existing one.