DictionaryAI

consume

verb
kuhn-SOOM/kənˈsum/Saykuhn-SYOOM/kənˈsjuːm/AUS/kənˈsjʉːm/

Formsconsumes, consuming, consumed

7 meanings of consume

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To use something up entirely, leaving little or nothing remaining.

    Like a fire burning through a woodpile until only ashes remain.

    The factory consumed thousands of gallons of water during the heat wave.

    Large data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity every hour.

    Similaruse, expend, deplete, exhaust, spend

    Oppositeconserve, save, produce

    Note

    The Latin behind it explains this sense best: cōnsūmere joins con- ("with, together") to sūmō ("take"), so to consume is to take the whole of something. It suits fuel, power and resources counted in amounts, such as tons of coal per hour or gallons of water. Here the verb always takes an object: a plant consumes coal; it does not simply consume.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To take something in by eating or drinking it.

    Athletes consume large amounts of protein after training.

    The guests consumed everything on the table before dessert.

    Similareat, devour, ingest, drink, swallow

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To destroy something completely, especially by burning or wearing it down.

    The wildfire consumed thousands of acres of forest.

    Rust can slowly consume an iron bridge if it is left untreated.

    Similardestroy, devour, ravage, engulf

    Note

    Fire is its natural agent, and it sits comfortably in the passive: a building is consumed by fire. Older literary English keeps it close to burning and decay. In Shakespeare's Coriolanus a brand is set to a house "that shall consume it", and in the New Testament "moth and rust consume", with no object at all. Unlike the using-up sense, nothing is put to use; it is simply gone.

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To take over someone's thoughts or attention completely.

    Grief consumed him for months after the loss.

    Ambition can consume even the most level-headed people.

    Similarabsorb, preoccupy, obsess, grip, overwhelm

  5. 5
    verbtransitive
    To read, watch, or listen to information or content, especially from the mass media.

    Younger audiences consume most of their news through social media.

    He consumed podcasts and long-form articles to stay informed.

    Similarabsorb, devour

  6. 6
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    To buy and use goods or services as an individual within the economy.

    Households consume more imported products as their incomes grow.

    During a recession, families tend to consume cautiously.

    Similarbuy, purchase, spend

    Oppositeproduce, save

    Note

    Economics sets it against production and saving: it is what individuals and households do when they spend money on goods and services. Unlike most uses of the verb, it can stand without an object, as when people are urged to "consume, consume, consume". Its noun appears in terms like consumption tax. The economist's consumer is a buyer, not necessarily an eater.

Less common meaning

  1. 7
    verbobsoleteintransitive
    To waste away gradually, growing weaker and weaker over time.
    Therefore, let Benedick, like cover'd fire, / Consume away in sighs.
    1598, William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”
    He assured her the child was consuming at that moment in the next room.
    1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening
    Note

    Here what gets used up is the subject itself: nothing follows the verb, and a body or spirit simply dwindles. Shakespeare pairs it with away, wishing Benedick to "consume away in sighs"; in Richardson's Clarissa (1748) a sufferer is "consuming from day to day," and Kate Chopin still uses it bare in The Awakening (1899). Today it is obsolete, and readers will hear an object missing, so outside period writing, say waste away.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English consumen, via Old French consumer, from Latin cōnsūmere ("to take up, use up"), formed from con- ("with, together") and sūmō ("take, consume"), itself from sub- plus emō ("to buy, take"). This traces ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *h₁em- ("to take, distribute"), possibly related to the root *nem- ("to take or give one's due").