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exhaust

[ig-zawst]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to drain of strength or energy, wear out, or fatigue greatly, as a person: I have exhausted myself working.
  2. to use up or consume completely; expend the whole of: He exhausted a fortune in stock-market speculation.
  3. to draw out all that is essential in (a subject, topic, etc.); treat or study thoroughly.
  4. to empty by drawing out the contents: to exhaust a tank of fuel oil.
  5. to create a vacuum in.
  6. to draw out or drain off completely.
  7. to deprive wholly of useful or essential properties, possessions, resources, etc.
  8. Chemistry, Pharmacology. to deprive of ingredients by the use of solvents, as a drug.
  9. to destroy the fertility of (soil), as by intensive cultivation.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to pass out or escape, as spent steam from the cylinder of an engine.
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noun Machinery.
  1. the escape of steam or gases from the cylinder of an engine.
  2. the steam or gases ejected.
  3. Also called exhaust system. the parts of an engine through which the exhaust is ejected.
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Origin of exhaust

1515–25; 1895–1900 for def 11; < Latin exhaustus emptied out, drained out, past participle of exhaurīre
Related formsex·haust·er, nounex·haust·i·ble, adjectiveex·haust·i·bil·i·ty, nounmul·ti·ex·haust, nounnon·ex·haust·ed, adjectivenon·ex·haust·i·ble, adjectivepre·ex·haust, verb (used with object)un·ex·haust·ed, adjectiveun·ex·haust·ed·ly, adverb

Synonyms

See more synonyms for exhaust on Thesaurus.com
1. tire, enervate, prostrate, debilitate. 2. waste, squander, dissipate. 4. void. 12. fumes, smoke, vapor.

Antonyms

1. strengthen, invigorate. 4. fill.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for exhaustible

Historical Examples

  • The ground may be ever so rich in ingredients, but it is exhaustible.

    Valere Aude

    Louis Dechmann

  • For by another paradox—this time not of art but of nature—the extraordinary is exhaustible and the ordinary is not.

    The English Novel

    George Saintsbury

  • Yet, let it not be thought that I regard the mind of England as exhausted, or even as exhaustible.

  • Conservation comprehends the substitution as far as possible of materials for those that are exhaustible.

  • The47 forces that have erected us from the worm, are they necessarily exhausted or exhaustible?

    Woman and Womanhood

    C. W. Saleeby

British Dictionary definitions for exhaustible

exhaust

verb (mainly tr)
  1. to drain the energy of; tire outto exhaust someone by constant questioning
  2. to deprive of resources, etca nation exhausted by war
  3. to deplete totally; expend; consumeto exhaust food supplies
  4. to empty (a container) by drawing off or pumping out (the contents)
  5. to develop or discuss thoroughly so that no further interest remainsto exhaust a topic of conversation
  6. to remove gas from (a vessel, etc) in order to reduce the pressure or create a vacuum; evacuate
  7. to remove or use up the active ingredients from (a drug, solution, etc)
  8. to destroy the fertility of (soil) by excessive cultivation
  9. (intr) (of steam or other gases) to be emitted or to escape from an engine after being expanded
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noun
  1. gases ejected from an engine as waste products
    1. the expulsion of expanded gas or steam from an engine
    2. (as modifier)exhaust stroke
    1. the parts of an engine through which the exhausted gases or steam pass
    2. (as modifier)exhaust valve; exhaust pipe
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Derived Formsexhausted, adjectiveexhauster, nounexhaustible, adjectiveexhaustibility, nounexhausting, adjective

Word Origin

C16: from Latin exhaustus made empty, from exhaurīre to draw out, from haurīre to draw, drain
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

Word Origin and History for exhaustible

exhaust

v.

1530s, "to draw off or out, to use up completely," from Latin exhaustus, past participle of exhaurire "draw off, take away, use up," from ex- "off" (see ex-) + haurire "to draw up" (as water), from PIE *aus- "to draw water." Of resources, etc., from 1630s. Related: Exhausted; exhausting.

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exhaust

n.

"waste gas," 1848, originally from steam engines, from exhaust (v.). In reference to internal combustion engines by 1896.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper