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:
Investors hear a lot about the price of oil, despite the fact that they don’t buy, sell or consume it directly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
Cyclospora is spread when people consume foods or drink water that are contaminated with feces.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Health organizations generally recommend that adults consume about 25 to 30 grams of fiber each day, yet average intake across many Western countries falls below that level.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
We consume lists of the worst airports and wonder at accounts of illness-plagued cruises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
She yawned and watched the front of the car consume the white line in the highway.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
The first chapter still consumes me with grief, anger, and inherited trauma.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 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
This isn’t because they don’t care but because they are doing their jobs and raising their families and can’t spare the emotional energy that pessimism consumes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
This is the question that consumes me over the next three days as we wait to be released from our prison of safety.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
“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
The AHA statement also looked at caffeine consumed in other ways, like energy drinks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Richard Garrett made a claim against the U.S. government for compensation, for the value of his property, including the burned barn and the corn and hay consumed by the cavalry horses.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
When organisms died, their remains sank and decomposed, consuming oxygen in the surrounding water.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
The BBC is arguing - with some justification - that licence fee payment is down in large part because people aren't consuming live TV in the way they used to.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
“If I were living in Michigan, I think I’d probably not be anxious to be consuming raw fruits or vegetables, you know, for the rest of the summer.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
When an AI model is dispensing advice, it doesn’t know the difference between a body builder who wants to lift heavier weights and is consuming enough protein and a malnourished person who isn’t.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
On July 14, he began consuming the pealike seedpods of the plant as well, probably because the roots were becoming too tough to eat.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
