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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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:
Balds — fish lovers themselves — can consume hooks and sinkers when they gobble down their prey, potentially poisoning them, Koh said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Cyclospora is spread when people consume foods or drink water that are contaminated with feces.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Farmers fear new data centers, some of which consume power equivalent to that of a midsize city, will drive up their utility bills when America’s farmers are already struggling with higher costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Traditional populations, by comparison, are estimated to consume between 80 and 120 grams of fiber daily.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
In a way it was like a nightmare, in which you might continue to consume huge masses of putty without being able to stop.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
The first chapter still consumes me with grief, anger, and inherited trauma.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
A parade consumes New York City as the shock continues for nonbelievers—and some believers, too.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
This separation is a phase change that consumes energy, inducing a cooling effect, like when steam evaporates off a cup of hot water.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
Because this process consumes significant amounts of energy, DAC facilities are generally most practical in locations with abundant renewable energy resources.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
“But only if it consumes peculiars. It can eat as many normals as it likes and it will never turn into a wight. Therefore, we must have something normals lack.”
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
“Detection is really difficult, and most often the produce item being implicated has been consumed, and there is nothing left to test.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
At the protest site in the capital Delhi, he began fasting on 28 June and has consumed nothing but salt and water since then, losing more than 9kg.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Kimberly Foon took a decadeslong pause from tennis — a sport she loves — when family life and career consumed most of her time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
That’s why it affects mainly produce that has a longer life cycle from crop cultivation and irrigation to when it hits store shelves and is consumed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Of far greater concern at that time, of course, was my own future, for on that night all that consumed my thoughts was the fear of the next day’s injections!
From "Bunnicula" by Deborah Howe and James Howe
Some research has found that consuming them can lead to health problems, including irregular heartbeats and high blood pressure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Wangchuk was sitting on hunger strike in the scorching summer, consuming nothing but salt and water.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
“I think there’s something to be said about what film gives you as an artistic community, versus what digital gives you is just consuming as a capitalistic society,” Saint Marie said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
When organisms died, their remains sank and decomposed, consuming oxygen in the surrounding water.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
The colors deepened, glorifying Ishtar and pushing Nergal into a darkness that verged on consuming existence.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
