consuming
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- consumingly adverb
- consumingness noun
- nonconsuming adjective
- quasi-consuming adjective
- self-consuming adjective
- unconsuming adjective
Etymology
Origin of consuming
Explanation
If you have a passion for art, and making it is all you can think about or do, your passion for art is consuming. It is intense and almost overwhelming. Picture a fire burning in a fireplace. The fire consumes the logs you have put in it. It completely devours them in order to burn. When something, a passion or a drive, is consuming, it dominates a person's life like that fire, and in a sense, it devours their energy and attention. Your consuming desire to travel might cause you to study abroad for a semester or even move to Europe.
Vocabulary lists containing consuming
"The Scholarship Jacket" by Marta Salinas
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Clap When You Land
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NYTimes Summer Reading Contest Winners' Words
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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.
De Zerbi agreed the stress and fear of relegation could be the factor consuming the Spurs squad – but he has no time to lose getting his message across.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
The FDA has long warned against consuming raw, unpasteurized milk, citing risks of dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli that can lead to severe illness or, in rare cases, death.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
Most recently, OpenAI has committed to consuming 2 gigawatts of Tranium compute.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 9, 2026
The dividend looks solid, too, consuming only about a third of H&R Block’s annual profit.
From Barron's • Apr. 6, 2026
Comparing texts word by word turned out to be quite the consuming task.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
