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.
Instead, the U.S. has continued to use up missiles, in some cases at a faster rate than they are being produced.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026
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
Fields ran for three touchdowns and passed for two touchdowns, but Kennedy’s ability to use up large chunks of time and also pressure Fields left Carson feeling frustrated throughout the second half.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2025
"Do they really want to use up all the time when the focus will finally be on the SNP's record on a leadership contest?" they asked.
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2025
She spent much of her time reading, and in 1894 she wrote, “I am rather ashamed to find I use up rather more than a volume a day of novels.”
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
