Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
Usual is used to describe what happens or what is done most often in a particular situation.
It is a neighborhood beset by all the ~ inner-city problems...
She’s smiling her ~ friendly smile...
After lunch there was a little more clearing up to do than ~...
It is ~ to tip waiters, porters, guides and drivers.
= normal
ADJ: det ADJ, v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ to-inf
•
Usual is also a noun.
The stout barman in a bow tie presented himself to take their order. ‘Good morning, sir. The ~?’
N-SING: the N
2.
You use as ~ to indicate that you are describing something that normally happens or that is normally the case.
As ~ there will be the local and regional elections on June the twelfth...
The front pages are, as ~, a mixture of domestic and foreign news.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
3.
If something happens as ~, it happens in the way that it normally does, especially when other things have changed.
When somebody died everything went on as ~, as if it had never happened...
PHRASE: PHR after v
4.
business as ~: see business