Definitions for consume
kənˈsumcon·sume

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. devour, down, consume, go throughverb

   eat immoderately

   "Some people can down a pound of meat in the course of one meal"

2. consume, ingest, take in, take, haveverb

   serve oneself to, or consume regularly

   "Have another bowl of chicken soup!"; "I don't take sugar in my coffee"

3. consume, squander, waste, wareverb

   spend extravagantly

   "waste not, want not"

4. consumeverb

   destroy completely

   "The fire consumed the building"

5. consume, eat up, use up, eat, deplete, exhaust, run through, wipe outverb

   use up (resources or materials)

   "this car consumes a lot of gas"; "We exhausted our savings"; "They run through 20 bottles of wine a week"

6. consumeverb

   engage fully

   "The effort to pass the exam consumed all his energy"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. consumeverb

   To use.

   The power plant consumes 30 tons of coal per hour.

2. consumeverb

   To eat.

   Baby birds consume their own weight in food each day.

3. consumeverb

   To occupy (one's attention or thoughts).

   Desire consumed him.

4. consumeverb

   To destroy completely.

   The building was consumed by fire.

5. Etymology: From consumere.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Consumeverb

   to destroy, as by decomposition, dissipation, waste, or fire; to use up; to expend; to waste; to burn up; to eat up; to devour

2. Consumeverb

   to waste away slowly

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Consume

   kon-sūm′, v.t. to destroy by wasting, fire, evaporation, &c.: to use up: to devour: to waste or spend: to exhaust.—v.i. to waste away.—adj. Consum′able.—adv. Consum′edly, exceedingly—originally a fantastic variant of confoundedly, and prob. influenced in meaning by consummately.—ns. Consum′er, as opposed to producer, he who uses an article produced; Consum′ing, wasting or destroying. [L. consum-ĕre, to destroy—con, sig. completeness, sum-ĕre, sumptum, to take.]

Matched Categories

1. • Absorb
   • Destroy
   • Spend

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'consume' in Verbs Frequency: #738

How to pronounce consume?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say consume in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of consume in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of consume in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of consume in a Sentence

1. Michael Moreau:

   Leaving Bennu's vicinity in May puts us in the' sweet spot,' when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecraft's onboard fuel.

2. George Bernard Shaw:

   We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it.

3. Robert Graham:

   Using less meat is what I encourage, even if you add a little bit of chopped mushroom to a ground beef patty mixture, that can help to reduce the meat you consume.

4. Mark Twain:

   In Marseilles they make half the toilet soap we consume in America, but the Marseillaise only have a vague theoretical idea of its use, which they have obtained from books of travel.

5. Chris Rayner:

   So my message would be that consuming alcohol without any accompanying nutrients will result in a somewhat higher peak blood alcohol concentration, however, it is at least as important to consume alcohol in moderation, regardless of whether it is taken with or without food.

Popularity rank by frequency of use