consume
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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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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consumingadjective
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underconsumeverb (used with object)
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unconsumedadjective
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overconsumeverb
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preconsumeverb (used with object)
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half-consumedadjective
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consuminglyadverb
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has consumedperfect 3rd person singular
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have consumedperfect
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have been consumingperfect progressive
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is consumingprogressive 3rd person singular
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are consumingprogressive
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am consumingprogressive 1st person singular
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consumingparticiple
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has been consumingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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consumessingular 3rd person
Past
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had consumedperfect
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had been consumingperfect progressive
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were consumingprogressive plural
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was consumingprogressive singular
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consumedsimple
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consumedparticiple
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.
Our advice to fans for the next week: Consume loads of Antacids and Dramamine.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 18, 2022
Consume it as they do in the Veneto, as a "rasentin," the Venetian phrase for "rinse," by putting a few drops into a seemingly empty espresso cup to capture one last taste of the coffee.
From Salon • Jan. 2, 2022
Consume these materials together, pick them apart, respond to them.
From Slate • Feb. 2, 2021
The parameter β1 was called the Marginal Propensity to Consume in Macroeconomics Principles.
From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017
Do not Consume your blood with sorrowing: you have A nurse of me.
From Pericles by Shakespeare, William
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.
