use up
Britishverb
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to finish (a supply); consume completely
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to exhaust; wear out
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Consume completely, as in The kids used up all their money playing video games . [Late 1700s]
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Exhaust, tire out, as in I'm totally used up from digging that hole . [ Colloquial ; mid-1800s]
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.
In the comments, islanders suggested different ways for the groups to use up the fruit.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
The cooling systems are projected to use up to 33 billion gallons of water by 2028 per year.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2026
Goitía, better known by his stage name Boston Rex, said he was determined not to use up his earnings from a tour for Spain’s large Venezuelan diaspora community.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025
While non-parasitic plants may use up to 200 genes to build and maintain plastids, Balanophora retains only about 20.
From Science Daily • Dec. 20, 2025
The animals and people in the town, as they breathed, would use up oxygen and produce carbon dioxide.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
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.
