exhaust

American  

[ig-zawst] / ɪgˈzɔst /

verb (used with object)

exhausts, present (3rd person singular) exhausted, past participle, past exhausting present participle

1. to drain of strength or energy, wear out, or fatigue greatly, as a person.

   I have exhausted myself working.

   Synonyms:

   debilitate, prostrate, enervate, tire

   Antonyms:

   invigorate, strengthen

2. to use up or consume completely; expend the whole of.

   He exhausted a fortune in stock-market speculation.

   Synonyms:

   dissipate, squander, waste

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.

   Synonyms:

   void

   Antonyms:

   fill

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.

---

verb (used without object)

exhausts, present (3rd person singular) exhausted, past participle, past exhausting present participle

1. to pass out or escape, as spent steam from the cylinder of an engine.

noun

Machinery.

exhausts plural

1. the escape of steam or gases from the cylinder of an engine.

2. the steam or gases ejected.

   Synonyms:

   vapor, smoke, fume

3. Also called exhaust system.  the parts of an engine through which the exhaust is ejected.

exhaust British  

/ ɪɡˈzɔːst /

verb

1. to drain the energy of; tire out

   to exhaust someone by constant questioning

2. to deprive of resources, etc

   a nation exhausted by war

3. to deplete totally; expend; consume

   to 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 remains

   to 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

---

noun

1. gases ejected from an engine as waste products

2. 1. the expulsion of expanded gas or steam from an engine

   2. ( as modifier )

      exhaust stroke

3. 1. the parts of an engine through which the exhausted gases or steam pass

   2. ( as modifier )

      exhaust valve

      exhaust pipe

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• exhauster
  noun
• exhaustibility
  noun
• multiexhaust
  noun
• preexhaust
  verb (used with object)
• exhausted
  adjective
• exhaustible
  adjective
• exhausting
  adjective
• nonexhausted
  adjective
• nonexhaustible
  adjective
• unexhausted
  adjective
• unexhaustedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• exhausts
  plural

Participles

• exhausting
  present
• exhausted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• exhaust
  simple
• exhausts
  simple
• have exhausted
  perfect
• has exhausted
  perfect
• am exhausting
  progressive
• are exhausting
  progressive
• is exhausting
  progressive
• have been exhausting
  perfect progressive
• has been exhausting
  perfect progressive

Past

• exhausted
  simple
• had exhausted
  perfect
• was exhausting
  progressive
• were exhausting
  progressive
• had been exhausting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will exhaust
  simple
• will have exhausted
  perfect
• will be exhausting
  progressive
• will have been exhausting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of exhaust

1515–25; 1895–1900 exhaust for def. 11; < Latin exhaustus emptied out, drained out, past participle of exhaurīre

Explanation

The noun exhaust refers to what comes out of your car's tailpipe. It consists of the burned gases and particulate matter that are created by the engine. As a verb, the word exhaust means to use something up, such as a food supply or your energy. The exhaust system in your car is the part that takes the waste created by the car in the form of gas or smoke and expels it through the tailpipe. The noun exhaust appeared in the 19th century, after the invention of the engine. Before that, the word, as a verb, referred only to depleting something, such as a natural resource. Miners deplete a mineral deposit and exhaust the resource.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exhaust exhausts exhausted exhausting

Arevalo is one of 10 street vendors testing whether they can ditch petrol generators to reduce noise, planet-warming emissions and health risks posed by exhaust fumes.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

The boat was leaking fuel and continuing to emit exhaust from the motor as it sank.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

Employees must first exhaust their administrative remedies at an agency that cannot decide their case.

From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026

They are also not conventional air conditioners, which work by removing heat from a room via an exhaust hose or external unit.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The truck disappeared in a cloud of exhaust.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

February saw a surge in both trading activity, which often accompanies comes as a price swing exhausts itself, and institutional repositioning.

From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026

A white dwarf forms when a star exhausts the hydrogen fuel needed for nuclear fusion in its core but lacks the mass required to explode as a core-collapse supernova.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2026

But for the audience, those sentiments more accurately reflect Ramsay’s film, a slow burn that exhausts its welcome and dies in a blaze after losing its grip on a meandering narrative.

From Salon ● Nov. 7, 2025

Judges then stunned the nation by ordering Sarkozy to swiftly start serving his sentence, dispensing with the usual practice of waiting until a white-collar convict exhausts the appeals process.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025

Somehow all this information exhausts me, and I watch the second video, which explains the actual procedures for vacuuming, with the detached interest of a cineast.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

She said auditors in Ohio created a “false narrative” about her charter school and her actions, and that she took a plea deal only after being exhausted emotionally and financially by a drawn-out investigation.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

They are simply and understandably exhausted by the neverending strife.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

"I'm honestly exhausted," 32-year-old finance worker Bruno Gonzalez del Yerro told AFP.

From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026

Many of them were not collapsing into one long, exhausted sleep when they got home.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Then this lonely, exhausted man staggered in, looking as beaten as a Jack Russell who’d picked a fight with a Rottweiler.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Fora's Jonna Robertson, for her part, is counting on a seasonal redistribution, with trips to hotter countries taking place in spring or autumn, in order to avoid both overtourism and exhausting temperatures.

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

Anna, who has the right to lifelong anonymity, said the trials had been "emotionally exhausting" and added: "There were times when I really struggled having to relive what happened to me over and over again."

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

You asked me earlier if it was exhausting being me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

“It’s never too late” can start to feel exhausting, rather than motivating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

It was horrible, exhausting, awkward, embarrassing-but also, by the end, a huge relief.

From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee

Related Words

• drain
• fatigue
• frazzle
• impoverish
• overwork
• sap
• tire out
• use up
• weaken
• wear out
• weary