- present participle of consume.
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.
Symptoms usually develop within 30 minutes to two hours of consuming lactose and can last from five to 10 minutes up to a few hours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
To investigate, an international research team examined how consuming fat before or after glucose influences blood sugar, hormone activity, and the speed at which the stomach empties.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Astronomers have discovered an unusual star system about 300 light-years from Earth where a small star is gradually consuming a nearby brown dwarf.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
No. 1, Whitson advises, is ensuring you’re consuming enough carbohydrates—and doing so every few hours.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
In another study, researchers at the University of San Francisco appear to have found more evidence of the cost of constantly consuming information.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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.
