consuming
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Ms. Tatar speaks of the female spider’s habit of killing and consuming her mate, taking in his fluids as nourishment for laying hundreds of eggs.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
In that group, consuming about 250mg-300mg of caffeine per day, equal to roughly two to three cups of coffee, was linked to a 35% lower dementia risk.
From Science Daily • May 13, 2026
Chan School of Public Health, adults were consuming an average of 2.9 ounces of protein per day in 2025.
From Salon • May 7, 2026
France favours creating a system of groups of producing, processing and consuming nations that share a commitment to implementing good practices.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
“It keeps him from consuming all his air,” Hazel said.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
