consume
Americanverb (used with object)
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consumes,
present (3rd person singular)
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consumed,
past participle, past
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consuming
present participle
verb (used without object)
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consumes,
present (3rd person singular)
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consumed,
past participle, past
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consuming
present participle
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to undergo destruction; waste away.
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to use or use up consumer goods.
verb
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(tr) to eat or drink
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(tr; often passive) to engross or obsess
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(tr) to use up; expend
my car consumes little oil
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to destroy or be destroyed by burning, decomposition, etc
fire consumed the forest
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(tr) to waste or squander
the time consumed on that project was excessive
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(passive) to waste away
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overconsumeverb
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preconsumeverb (used with object)
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underconsumeverb (used with object)
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consumingadjective
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half-consumedadjective
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unconsumedadjective
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consuminglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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consumesimple
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consumessimple
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have consumedperfect
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has consumedperfect
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am consumingprogressive
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are consumingprogressive
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is consumingprogressive
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have been consumingperfect progressive
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has been consumingperfect progressive
Past
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consumedsimple
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had consumedperfect
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was consumingprogressive
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were consumingprogressive
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had been consumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consume
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French consumer, from Latin consūmere, from con- con- + sūmere “to take up” (equivalent to subs-, variant of sub- sub- + emere “to take, buy”; cf. emptor ( def. ))
Explanation
"The Freshman 15" describes freshman-year college students who gain about fifteen pounds because they consume way too much lousy dorm food all day long. To consume a cake is to eat it, the idea being that you ate the whole thing. To say a fire consumed a building is to say that the entire building was destroyed. Consume means to devour, to take in, to use up. The Unites States is often referred to as a consumer society because our economy is based on things being consumed. Whether it's gas, clothes, burgers, music, or anything that we use up as we purchase it, it's something that we consume. If we consume all the oil, there will be none left to burn.
Vocabulary lists containing consume
Eat Your Words
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act II
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Number the Stars
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Before testing the first atom bomb, the Los Alamos crew asked Hans Bethe to confirm with math that it wouldn’t start a chain reaction and consume the atmosphere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
While many maggots consume dead or decomposing material, screwworm larvae feed on healthy, living flesh.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
Zambians have been urged not to consume, sell, distribute or handle meat from animals that have died suddenly or from suspected anthrax.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Diesel is used to move everything that we eat, consume and produce, and gasoline is just used predominantly to move people around,” Smith said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
In advanced stages of famine, as the body begins to consume itself, the victim suffers muscle pain, heart disturbances, loss of hair, dizziness, shortness of breath, extreme sensitivity to cold, physical and mental exhaustion.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
In the United States, that hidden water use can be twice the amount a data center consumes on its own.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
To deal with the water shortages along the Colorado River, others have suggested policies that encourage farmers to grow less hay — which consumes nearly half of the water diverted from the river.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
She consumes about 3,500 calories every day to ensure she has enough energy.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
Rent now consumes 40% of Roe’s $83,000 gross income, roughly the median household income in the U.S.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
To my mind, there was only one compelling argument effect? for its existence: that when a hollowgast consumes enough of us, it transforms into a different sort of creature—one that can travel through time loops.”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
China’s car industry has consumed market share from traditional automakers around the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Currently the water consumed by existing data centres is relatively low.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Last year, Irish data centres consumed 23% of the country's electricity and the demand for energy has pushed up the price for consumers.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
One study found that people who consumed at least one serving of skim or low-fat milk each day had a 19% increased risk of prostate cancer compared with those who rarely drank it.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
The flames amid the rubble consumed the remaining fragments of the house and gusted into the sky, a nimbus of fire.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Bambi, a woman in her late 60s, began consuming conspiratorial media so religiously that she set timers to make sure she didn’t miss podcasts.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
“The gas market is pulling back partially in sympathy with lower oil prices and continued mild temperature forecasts across key consuming regions,” Ritterbusch & Associates says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
These findings do not mean that consuming one of these ingredients will necessarily cause high blood pressure or heart disease.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
Another large-scale outbreak was reported in 2011, with more than 500 cases, when five people died after consuming meat from infected hippos.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Suddenly I become filled with a consuming impatience to be gone.
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
