consume
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
-
to undergo destruction; waste away.
-
to use or use up consumer goods.
verb
-
(tr) to eat or drink
-
(tr; often passive) to engross or obsess
-
(tr) to use up; expend
my car consumes little oil
-
to destroy or be destroyed by burning, decomposition, etc
fire consumed the forest
-
(tr) to waste or squander
the time consumed on that project was excessive
-
(passive) to waste away
Other Word Forms
- consuming adjective
- consumingly adverb
- half-consumed adjective
- overconsume verb
- preconsume verb (used with object)
- unconsumed adjective
- underconsume verb (used with object)
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”; emptor ( def. ) )
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.
Friends of the Earth, a campaign group, said if all of those data centres came online, "they could consume more electricity each day than the entire country does now".
From BBC
In the months after Chloe's death, Danielle said she was consumed by grief, anger, and hate, unable to eat, sleep, or function properly.
From BBC
It has some evident benefits in relieving doctors of the back-office routines that consume hours better spent treating patients, such as filing insurance claims and scheduling appointments.
From Los Angeles Times
By 2018, participants who did not eat meat were less likely to become centenarians compared with those who consumed meat.
From Science Daily
He gave the example of images that have extremely high resolutions and consume ”petabytes and petabytes” of data.
From MarketWatch
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.
