consumer
a person or thing that consumes.
Economics. a person or organization that uses a commodity or service.
Ecology. an organism, usually an animal, that feeds on plants or other animals.
Origin of consumer
1Other words from consumer
- con·sum·er·ship, noun
- an·ti·con·sum·er, noun, adjective
- non·con·sum·er, adjective, noun
- pre·con·sum·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use consumer in a sentence
Adding TikTok would not only improve Microsoft’s social media reach with Gen Zers, but it would help the company make a bigger consumer play in the years to come.
‘Deal of a decade’: How buying TikTok could transform Microsoft | Lance Lambert | August 25, 2020 | FortuneLegislators questioned whether Apple is abusing its status as gatekeeper to the App Store and harming consumers at a recent Congressional hearing.
Why Apple let WordPress walk but continues to fight Fortnite’s Epic Games | rhhackettfortune | August 25, 2020 | FortuneTikTok, under ex-Disney honcho Kevin Mayer, already is set up to run as an independent business, so Oracle’s lack of consumer experience doesn’t matter.
Domestically, it’s expanding into consumer and technology services.
Billionaire Jack Ma’s Ant Group files for IPO looking to smash an all-time record | Bernhard Warner | August 25, 2020 | FortuneI should use the term “customer,” but given my experience in music, I tend to refer to consumers as fans, and I choose to treat them as such.
OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder on launching a hemp-infused sparkling water brand | Rachel King | August 24, 2020 | Fortune
Through his company, consumers will be able to cheaply make custom DNA strands, including what Heinz calls “creatures.”
Defenders of the status quo claim the old rules protect consumers.
Why Do ‘Progressives’ Want to Ban Uber and AirBnB? | Adam Thierer, Christopher Koopman | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAt that point, the Library of Congress can once again decide to prohibit consumers from unlocking their cell phones.
Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive | Ben Jacobs | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTConsumers are also gaining the ability to take the designs into their own hands as 3D printing becomes more accessible.
When companies faced competition, Klein knew, consumers would have options.
To the great advantage of all consumers, and to the glory of Russian music, the proposal came to nothing.
The Life & Letters of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky | Modeste TchaikovskyThat we are consumers and non-producers—that we contribute nothing to the general progress of man.
Now you see, Wes, the late Caesars were pretty good consumers of everything but petroleum, we having that edge on them.
The Great Potlatch Riots | Allen Kim LangConsumers stood gray and inconspicuous behind the two rows of uniformed men, silent, unsmiling, like onlookers at an accident.
The Great Potlatch Riots | Allen Kim LangUrged by a delegation of music-loving consumers, the tubist raised his ravaged horn.
The Great Potlatch Riots | Allen Kim Lang
British Dictionary definitions for consumer
/ (kənˈsjuːmə) /
a person who acquires goods and services for his or her own personal needs: Compare producer (def. 6)
a person or thing that consumes
(usually plural) ecology an organism, esp an animal, within a community that feeds upon plants or other animals: See also decomposer, producer (def. 8)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for consumer
[ kən-sōō′mər ]
A heterotrophic organism that feeds on other organisms in a food chain.♦ Herbivores that feed on green plants and detritivores that feed on decaying matter are called primary consumers. Carnivores that feed on herbivores or detritivores are called secondary consumers, while those that feed on other carnivores are called tertiary consumers. Compare producer.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for consumer
Someone who purchases a good for personal use.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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